A Packers star defender mocks rule change
A Green Bay Packers star defender doesn’t seem impressed by a potential rule change on tackling in 2023. NFL tackling rules are already complicated, if not unfair to defenders tasked with having a job duty to take to the ground people moving at a high rate of speed.
Rules have been crafted over time, literally since at least the Theodore Roosevelt administration, to help cut down injuries. A serious problem in a violent sport. The NFL has seen success in preventing injuries. Injuries are down 5.6 percent this season from 2021. However, concussions rose in 2023, and that’s something the NFL has to try and curb for the health of the sport of football. According to a report by Dov Kleiman, the NFL is looking at a new rule change aimed at stopping “hip drop” tackles.
The #NFL is planning to have an "active conversation" this offseason about possibly banning the “hip drop” tackles, according to NFL's CMO Allen Sills. pic.twitter.com/9g66NULgby
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) February 4, 2023
Adrian Amos comments on the potential change
Michael David Smith wrote about the proposed change for NBC Sports. He quotes the NFL’s chief medical officer Dr. Allen Sills on what they’d look to elimate:
“in which the defender grabs the ball carrier from behind and then pulls him down while dropping the tackler’s own body to the ground, could be eliminated. That type of tackle, known in rugby as a “hip-drop tackle,” was banned by the National Rugby League in Australia because of the injuries it caused.”
Packers star defender and team captain Adrian Amos tweeted his thoughts on the rule change. He mocked the idea on Twitter:
😂😂 they about to have us getting dragged down the field like we trying to tackle Spike from the Little Giants https://t.co/npSQcMUihV
— Adrian Amos (@_SmashAmos31) February 4, 2023
Playing defense is already hard enough with the advanced rules. While it’s great the NFL is looking out for players, players need to be involved in rule discussions that alter the game. Defenders, who have signed up to play professional football knowing the risks, are asked to be put in more perilous situations when a lot of these rules are imposed. It appears defenders like Packers star defender Amos have a reason for not liking rules that make their job even more impossible. And it’s his neck on the line, figuratively and literally.
