The National Football League (NFL), on Monday, held its annual league meeting in Orlando, where 32 teams unanimously approved a proposal to ban the swivel hip-drop tackle technique.
This move was met with various responses from players and the National Football League Players Association (NFLPA).
The enforcement of the new rule was underpinned by the league"s commitment to player safety, as explained by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell during his Tuesday press briefing.
"We met with them in the competition committee back in Indianapolis [during the scouting combine]. They came in and they expressed their view," Goodell said. "Immediately, we had an opportunity to go through all of the plays from a video standpoint. We had them hear from our engineers as well as ask questions [to] the engineers and our committee members.
"So, listen, it’s a play that has a 20-times injury factor. From that standpoint, we can’t allow that. We’ve been very, I think, effective and very clear when we see a technique that we think is going to increase the safety of our players — particularly at that kind of rate, I’m not sure we’ve had anything at that kind of rate — we’re going to work to try to remove it from the game. I think we’ll be very effective in doing that."
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell: I think we'll be "very effective" in removing hip-drop tackleshttps://t.co/dc8Es7GBDh pic.twitter.com/b50IwZNFCB
— Around The NFL (@AroundTheNFL) March 27, 2024
Though it faced some resistance from the athletes and NFLPA, the consensus was achieved with the broader perspective of mitigating the risk of player injuries.
According to the NFL"s prior assessments, the injury probability during a hip-drop tackle is 20-to-25 times higher than any other plays on the field.
This alarming statistic was a significant factor driving the decision to eradicate this particular tackle style.
Identifying violations of the new rule, known for its potential complexity, won"t just be the responsibility of on-field referees, said Goodell.
Proactive steps will be taken by the league to review game videos for potential infringements, followed by subsequent penalties which could include fines and other disciplinary actions.
"Yeah, I think we talked a great deal about this," Goodell said. "And it’s not unusual — when we had the lowering of the head and head-to-head contact, there is a transition period. So, we’re going to make sure that the officials are comfortable that when they see something clear and obvious, they throw the flag. Otherwise, we will see it on videotape. We will see it on tape Monday and we will deal with it with fines and discipline.
"It’s been an effective way to do it. And it will not put all that pressure on the officials alone to get that right. It will be a change for the officials too, though."
