NFL Bans Hip Drop Tackle
posted by Trevor Lloyd | April 2, 2024 | In SportsIt is getting harder and harder to play defense in the NFL. On March 25, the NFL Competition Committee unanimously voted to outlaw hip drop tackling.
For those that do not know, the hip drop tackle is a tackle when a defender wraps his arms around the ball carrier’s waist, drops their weight, and swivels to bring down the ball carrier by landing on their legs.
NFL executive Jeff Miller said: “The tackle was used 230 times during the 2023-24 season, and 15 players were injured because of the tackle.”
In this age when concern for player safety is at an all-time high, the case can be made that without the tackle the game might be safer. However, many point out that if you play the game of football, you are signing up to put your body on the line for the sport, and in a high-contact, high-speed sport such as football injuries are just naturally part of the game.
This technique has been under a microscope for a while now. Debates and conversions to ban the tackle have been rumbling as far back as the 2022-2023 playoffs, when then Dallas Cowboys’, now Tennessee Titans running back Tony Pollard suffered a fractured fibula after being tackled in this manner. During those same playoffs, Chiefs quarterback, and face of the NFL Patrick Mahomes suffered a high ankle sprain in the divisional round against the Jacksonville Jaguars that lingered for the rest of the playoffs from having his lower body twisted awkwardly.
More recently during the 2023-2024 season, another big-name player who suffered from this tackle was Baltimore Ravens tight end Mark Andrews who missed the final seven weeks of the regular season plus Baltimore’s divisional match-up against Houston, when he was injured on the tackle during a week 11 game against the Cincinnati Bengals.
Fans and players have voiced support and objection to the new rule. Former wide receiver Brandon Marshall supported the rule, citing player safety as his reason, and Green Bay Packers running back Kenyan Drake voiced his support for the rule due to him having his ankle broken from being tackled like that. On the other side of the argument, two potential Hall of Fame defenders, Richard Sherman and J.J. Watt are against it. Sherman argues that this rule makes it harder for defensive players to chase down ball-carriers in the open field after big runs. The former Seattle Seahawk corner also argued that defensive players already have most rules that put them at a disadvantage to offensive players.
While Watt wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that at some point NFL football will soon be flag football instead of a full-contact sport. Once the 2024 season starts, we fans and spectators will get to see how effective this rule change will be. Players who are penalized for this new infraction will be subject to a 15-yard penalty and automatic first down. Many suspect however that officials will be lenient on calling flags and will let the league office send fines to players that commit these tackles.
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