NFL season begins with same issues - hits to the head

[stillers4me]

The start of a new season rekindled some old — and troubling — issues for the NFL.

Nobody could attest to that better than Cam Newton.


The Carolina Panthers quarterback was victimized by helmet-to-helmet hits at least three times in a 21-20 loss to the Denver Broncos on Thursday night. Net result of those hits: Zero penalty yards.



The Super Bowl rematch was every bit as good as promised — it came down to a last-second field goal attempt — but it was a brutal affair that put Newton, Broncos receiver Jordan Norwood and linebacker Brandon Marshall in evaluation for concussions. None were held out..........

read more @ http://pro32.ap.org/article/nfl-season-begins-same-issues-hits-head

[stillers4me]

The officials blew it, but so did Cam Newton's team on Thursday

Cam Newton (http://www.espn.com/nfl/player/_/id/13994/cam-newton) took a vicious shot to the head in the final minute Thursday night, a hit that left him facedown in the grass. It was the kind of hit the NFL swears it wants to eliminate from the sport. Newton did not get taken out of the game. He did not get checked for a concussion. In fact, he did not even gain a single penalty yard as a reward for his pain.

Instead the officials ruled that Darian Stewart (http://www.espn.com/nfl/player/_/id/13645)'s flying helmet-to-helmet hit was nullified by Newton's hurried throw on the run. The refs called it intentional grounding, refusing to consider that the Carolina Panthers (http://www.espn.com/nfl/team/_/name/car/carolina-panthers) quarterback got rid of the ball to protect himself from the speeding Denver Broncos (http://www.espn.com/nfl/team/_/name/den/denver-broncos) safety who was coming in too high.


Ron Rivera, one of his staff members, an ATC spotter up in the press box -- someone, anyone -- should have removed Newton from this Super Bowl rematch gone awry. In a pro football age of brain trauma and CTE, common sense says Newton needed to be escorted off the field. The rulebook says the same thing. Teams can now be fined hundreds of thousands of dollars, and ultimately docked draft picks, if they keep sending out players who should be having their heads examined instead............

Read more @ http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/17500234/nfl-blame-officials-panthers-failing-protect-cam-newton


Apparently, it's going to be open season on Ben....as usual.

[LloydWoodson]

Newton was the NFL MVP and STILL can't get any calls wow. That is ridiculous.

Meanwhile the Steelers are penalized for shoulder to shoulder hits that "look bad" 4 to 6 times a year.

[Edman]

Football season is back alright.

The NFL embarrassing itself yet again.

[stillers4me]

This is causing a huge uproar on twitter. Where is the outrage when Ben is used for target practice?

774235661373091840

[86WARD]

Football season is back alright.

The NFL embarrassing itself yet again.

This...

[tube517]

Newton was the NFL MVP and STILL can't get any calls wow. That is ridiculous.

Meanwhile the Steelers are penalized for shoulder to shoulder hits that "look bad" 4 to 6 times a year.

They only protect the Chosen Ones: Marsha, Discount DoubleCheck, Cool Brees, (and the now retired Papa John's).


Ben gets kneed in the back AFTER a sack and the refs are picking their nose. Nothing new.

[Born2Steel]

So....are we calling for the 'right' calls to be made here, or just bashing on the NFL for obvious favoritism? I can go either way, just not sure what the thread is calling for. In a game like Steelers/Bengals, for instance, I want more of a 'let them play' attitude from the refs. It will be a bloody contest as usual. On the other hand, flagrant hits to a player's head, or other intent to injure plays, should never be allowed to continue, and I agree with the player ejection rule like we saw in the college games last weekend. The huge problem in the NFL is we want it both ways, which leads to the inconsistency in calls game to game, officiating crew to crew. If Brady and Brees get the calls, Ben and Cam should also. Although I think Ben and Cam use those hits as motivation to kick ass on the score board.

[steelreserve]

So....are we calling for the 'right' calls to be made here, or just bashing on the NFL for obvious favoritism? I can go either way, just not sure what the thread is calling for. In a game like Steelers/Bengals, for instance, I want more of a 'let them play' attitude from the refs. It will be a bloody contest as usual. On the other hand, flagrant hits to a player's head, or other intent to injure plays, should never be allowed to continue, and I agree with the player ejection rule like we saw in the college games last weekend. The huge problem in the NFL is we want it both ways, which leads to the inconsistency in calls game to game, officiating crew to crew. If Brady and Brees get the calls, Ben and Cam should also. Although I think Ben and Cam use those hits as motivation to kick ass on the score board.


I'd be calling for the 'right' call to be made, which is no call. The only time there should be a penalty for a hit to the head is when it's a deliberate cheap shot.

In this case, they were not. They were ordinary hits on a guy who was running with the ball, and WAY outside the pocket to boot. Anyone calling for a flag on those plays, to say nothing of a fine, has no business watching or talking about football.

The rules for dangerous hits have been in place since the 1980s, and are more or less effective against attempts to injure. They've just stacked a bunch more on top of them that do nothing but result in random penalties for regular tackles. Funny thing - those rules probably haven't prevented a single case of brain injury, which happens from thousands of collisions over the course of decades, mostly outside of actual games.

The biggest improvement for "player safety" is that the players are now aware of the risks of playing football and can make an informed decision whether to keep playing or walk away, and many do. You are not going to take all risk out of the game; it is simply impossible.

[LloydWoodson]

So....are we calling for the 'right' calls to be made here, or just bashing on the NFL for obvious favoritism? I can go either way, just not sure what the thread is calling for. In a game like Steelers/Bengals, for instance, I want more of a 'let them play' attitude from the refs. It will be a bloody contest as usual. On the other hand, flagrant hits to a player's head, or other intent to injure plays, should never be allowed to continue, and I agree with the player ejection rule like we saw in the college games last weekend. The huge problem in the NFL is we want it both ways, which leads to the inconsistency in calls game to game, officiating crew to crew. If Brady and Brees get the calls, Ben and Cam should also. Although I think Ben and Cam use those hits as motivation to kick ass on the score board.

I ageee with more of a "let them play" attitude but there is a line.

I would rather the superstars not be protected than protecting all the mediocre QBs.

It's just frustrating when Brady has a Raven brush his knee with his arm and gets a call but Ben gets punched in the face by Ngata and his nose broken with blood as evidence and there is no call.

[86WARD]

Hits to the head happen and not everyone is on purpose or violent and not everyone results in a concussion. They have so many eyes on the field now for the concussions now it's crazy.

Cam doesn't get the calls because of his size and they have designed runs for him...is it right? No. But that's why. Ben didn't get calls because of his size...again, not right. At the same time though (and don't get me wrong, I'm on your side) Ben could've helped himself by changing his style of play...which he has done recently.

[NCSteeler]

I'd be calling for the 'right' call to be made, which is no call. The only time there should be a penalty for a hit to the head is when it's a deliberate cheap shot.

In this case, they were not. They were ordinary hits on a guy who was running with the ball, and WAY outside the pocket to boot. Anyone calling for a flag on those plays, to say nothing of a fine, has no business watching or talking about football.

The rules for dangerous hits have been in place since the 1980s, and are more or less effective against attempts to injure. They've just stacked a bunch more on top of them that do nothing but result in random penalties for regular tackles. Funny thing - those rules probably haven't prevented a single case of brain injury, which happens from thousands of collisions over the course of decades, mostly outside of actual games.

The biggest improvement for "player safety" is that the players are now aware of the risks of playing football and can make an informed decision whether to keep playing or walk away, and many do. You are not going to take all risk out of the game; it is simply impossible.

There were two that were pretty blatant intentional and will likely draw fines as they should

- - - Updated - - -


The officials blew it, but so did Cam Newton's team on Thursday

Cam Newton (http://www.espn.com/nfl/player/_/id/13994/cam-newton) took a vicious shot to the head in the final minute Thursday night, a hit that left him facedown in the grass. It was the kind of hit the NFL swears it wants to eliminate from the sport. Newton did not get taken out of the game. He did not get checked for a concussion. In fact, he did not even gain a single penalty yard as a reward for his pain.

Instead the officials ruled that Darian Stewart (http://www.espn.com/nfl/player/_/id/13645)'s flying helmet-to-helmet hit was nullified by Newton's hurried throw on the run. The refs called it intentional grounding, refusing to consider that the Carolina Panthers (http://www.espn.com/nfl/team/_/name/car/carolina-panthers) quarterback got rid of the ball to protect himself from the speeding Denver Broncos (http://www.espn.com/nfl/team/_/name/den/denver-broncos) safety who was coming in too high.


Ron Rivera, one of his staff members, an ATC spotter up in the press box -- someone, anyone -- should have removed Newton from this Super Bowl rematch gone awry. In a pro football age of brain trauma and CTE, common sense says Newton needed to be escorted off the field. The rulebook says the same thing. Teams can now be fined hundreds of thousands of dollars, and ultimately docked draft picks, if they keep sending out players who should be having their heads examined instead............

Read more @ http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/17500234/nfl-blame-officials-panthers-failing-protect-cam-newton


Apparently, it's going to be open season on Ben....as usual.

I have a couple of issues with this. First if they want to protect QBs so badly why is there still a rule against intentional grounding. Screw it let em throw it away whenever they want.

And Second how in the world does intentional grounding nullify a personal foul. Personal fouls should override any other penalty.

[steelreserve]

There were two that were pretty blatant intentional and will likely draw fines as they should

Sorry, but I didn't see anything like that, and yes, we are talking about the exact same two plays. They were blatant and intentional in that they were intentional hard hits against a ballcarrier, which is not a penalty or a fine. They were just regular hard hits, and you see those 50 times a game. I'm sorry that you have bought into all the bullshit.



I have a couple of issues with this. First if they want to protect QBs so badly why is there still a rule against intentional grounding. Screw it let em throw it away whenever they want.

And Second how in the world does intentional grounding nullify a personal foul. Personal fouls should override any other penalty.

No.

[NCSteeler]

Sorry, but I didn't see anything like that, and yes, we are talking about the exact same two plays. They were blatant and intentional in that they were intentional hard hits against a ballcarrier, which is not a penalty or a fine. They were just regular hard hits, and you see those 50 times a game. I'm sorry that you have bought into all the bullshit.




No.

Why?

He can throw it right at the feet of a running back , he can throw it into the ground to stop the clock on the snap. How are those not intentional grounding? Just let him throw it away when ever he wants , you'll see a lto of bad QBs throwing away cause they are scared and probably doing it badly ending in INTs