The NFL has recently cracked down. No more helmet-to-helmet contact. This rule is great in theory. It would save the players health, as a helmet-to-helmet shot, can really rattle a person’s brain. It can hurt you neck, and cause serious concussion. It brings about a personal foul, 15 yard penalty, with a monetary fine, and sometimes suspension.

Though the idea of safer football sounds great, it will never work. Football is a sport televised to entertain. People, myself included, love big hit. I like to see helmets fly off, blood running from the nose and players wobbling around after a hit. People love violence, and professional athletes are our modern day Roman gladiators. Big hits like these, tell me the player is playing with emotion, the way the game was meant to be played.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLXJy3dap3o


He’s playing to win. He’s not trying to kill anyone, but he’s sending a message. If you send someone my way, he’s going to get smacked. There’s more to it than that. Receivers who are scared to get hit, (most likely because they’ve been hit hard one already that game) will be less likely to catch passes over the middle, or go up in the air after a high pass. They get scared and won’t catch passes, making their offense less productive.

The NFL has a rich history full of big hitters. Look here at Ronnie Lott.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVKVHvMJKT8

Famous for his “hard-ass” style, he cut off his mangled and broken pinky finger at half-time, to come back and finish the game. He was also a feared hitter. What made him such a great hitter, and player, was the time and day. Back then, helmet-to-helmet were not just encouraged, they were taught. If you wanted to be on a highlight reel, you banged your helmet off from the helmet of an opposing player, risking life, and limb, in an all out, 110% effort. My point here, is that in the old days, the players were let loose. Able to go out and play with all the passion in the world, nowadays it isn’t so.