Safety is one of the biggest issues that the NFL is dealing with every single year. It is a violent sport and aggression is something that makes this sport great, but the league officials need to make it as safe as possible for the players. Because of that, they are trying to implement all kinds of new rules each and every year.
This season, there is going to be a new rule which states that referees are not going to throw a flag for every helmet contact that player makes with his opponent. You are going to be penalized if you lead with the crown of the helmet, or if you go for the helmet hit when you can avoid it.
Defenders are always the ones that need to worry about the rule changes of this nature. After all, those are the guys that are handing out the punishment as their task is to stop other players. They understand that it is a part of their job to know about these things, just like it’s league official’s job to worry about the safety.
Ezekiel Elliott was asked about this switch and what does that mean for his game. Here is what he had to say.
“I think it’s just all for the better of the game. I think they’re trying to protect players. You see a lot of neck injuries, you see a lot of spine injuries, you see a lot of head injuries. They’re just trying to protect us players. I don’t think it will really affect my game much. It’s just the league trying to take steps forward and preserve the players in this league.”
A lot of the former players are always suing the NFL because of the troubles that they have after their careers are over. Because of that, the league is taking these kinds of measures.
