TOTAL BULL$#IT ... the guy led with his shoulder the WHOLE WAY ... no question , no doubt.
I watched that idiot , moron Brandon Issac - hit helmet to helmet in the CFL for YEARS - with minimal calls, penalties, and fines ... then I see this call in the NFL ... and I am convinced NFL, CFL ...doesn't matter - REFS are LOSERS who have no CLUE about what they are watching !!
No way was it a penalty, horrible call. If that's NFL refs, yup, no better than CFL ones. :thdn:
Officials took away hard effort play, couldn't agree more.
[url=http://www.foxsports.com/west/story/patriots-browner-on-green-hit-officials-took-away-a-hard-effort-play-120714]http://www.foxsports.com/west/story/pat ... lay-120714[/url]Under current rules that most NFL fans still do not understand, this was the correct call.
Many of the justifications often given by a player and supportive fans that involve a player's alleged intent are irrelevant on at least that basis.
A player launching in the direction of the head, and making contact with any part of the head, of what is termed now a 'defenseless receiver' will be called for this penalty irrespective of the player's true intent.
After reform of the rules in 2011, it is the player's full and complete responsibility to make sure their striking point is not any part of the other player's head whether or not leading with the helmet.
Of course if intent is beyond doubt deemed to be deliberate, which is very rare to occur in the NFL but for which NCAA football has its own specific rules, the player will be disqualified too.
As I have commented previously, I approve of these long overdue rule changes in the interest of player safety.
Of course there is a whole body of legal action against the NFL to the tune of over one billion dollars that is still being resolved in favour of past players.
Fair enough Paolo, player safety should be the critical and allow an official to err on the side of player safety, including, perhaps the illegal block on Banks by Reed in the Grey Cup. Perhaps. :?