PRACTICE ... We are talking about practice ... not the game .... -Iverson

While I get the intent of the new safety practice policy, I can not help but wonder if it will have the effect it is intended to. Much like the "pitch count" in baseball has had over the years, there have been more injuries by not allowing a pitchers arm to work past that 100 pitch count. Once you set a limit then you are capping the developing muscles to that limit which may cause more injuries. In football's case: sure not banging heads as much in practice MIGHT lead to less concussions and head traumas, but it also might not prepare people to tackle properly and or not be able to take a hit as well in a real game. I simply do not know if this new policy is going to have the positive effect that they think it will. Nice to see the league try something different, but I hope they are willing to undo this if the facts show differently then what they are expecting.

That's a good point, it could affect conditioning. But if it reduces practice-related injuries that can knock out a player for an extended period (such as torn ACLs in practice), then I'm all for it.

Tackling fundamentals should be more or less fully developed by the time a football player reaches the pro level otherwise I'd say they wouldn't be getting a contract to play pro ball. Sure, always can fine tune any fundamental but the basics should be there by then with such a fundamental aspect of the game.

Like anything if you do not continue to do things at a “high level” your ability will decrease. In the case of athletics that can also lead to muscle issues and injuries in their own right. Its like the old expression “its like riding a bike”. Sure you may not forget how to ride a bike but let me tell you from experience if you do not maintain your leg muscles it will not matter, your body will say not happening. The same can be said of any sport really including football. In football it is even worse in that if you do not have you full attention on the play bad things can happen. Without knowing exactly what practices will be like it is hard to know what the end result will be. Again cudos to the league for taking this step to try to maintain players safety, but do so with an open mind that it may do exactly the opposite of what the league wanted. Only time will tell.