Up for Debate: Is NFL going too far to protect its players?

As we prepare for the end of basketball season and the start of baseball season, the NFL remains busy: busy changing its rules. Two rule changes -- one affecting the protection of the quarterback and one affecting downfield blocking -- have our two debaters on opposite sidelines.

(Photo: Getty Images)

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A Cubs and Northwestern fan, Joe Moag is a major sports junkie, and although he still runs, he hasn't been able to dunk anything more than a donut for decades.

Well, it must be April. The NFL is doing its annual rules review and changes -- and basically pissing everyone off, as usual, with those changes. What’s got everyone so pissed this year? Why, rule changes that should prevent serious, long-term harm to players, of course.

The first rule change is designed, of course, to protect the QB. The new rule states that defensive players who are on the ground cannot lunge at the QB below the QB’s knees. Why? Because that move is what blew out Tom Brady’s knee last September, and the owners don’t want to see that happen again.

The second rule change -- meant to protect all players -- basically disallows blindside forearm/shoulder shivers downfield. This happens a lot when there are downfield breaks, such as interceptions, kick returns, long passes/runs, etc. You’ve all seen these types of hits: They look great on the replays, and they come close to killing the person who gets hit.

Now, I know what everyone is going to say: "Oh, the poor QB." There are already so many rules to protect the QB, why not just outlaw hitting him altogether?  And, yes, it is true -- they really do get protected a lot. But, with D-linemen getting bigger and faster and stronger each year, what’s the alternative? Twenty-six QB’s on the IR for a season? The NFL is a QB league: Teams go only as far as their QB takes them. And when QBs are on the sidelines, teams go nowhere. So, it’s a choice. If you want high-flying, high-scoring NFL play, you gotta protect the QB, even if it looks a little unfair. Or you can have the NFL with a bunch of teams that look like the Raiders. Your choice.

As far as the downfield hit rule change: The only reason to be against that is if you have a deep, semi-psychotic need for carnage. Go ask Darryl Stingley what that’s like. Oh wait, he’s dead.

(Photo: Getty Images)

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Mandy Fox has been active of all aspects of sports from player to coach for over thirty years, but is happiest watching a game in her recliner with her cache of junk food.

The Tom Brady Rule...How will the NFL ever survive without it? Probably the way it always has. I'll be the first to admit this, I don't want to see anyone get hurt, but part of the game is getting hurt. It's a contact sport: Things happen, and sometimes those things lead to injuries.

I have two beefs with this rule -- the first being that the quarterback has become more protected than some endangered species. The NFL is acting like QBs are oh so precious and irreplaceable. This attitude is making them bigger prima donnas than ever. Come on -- you can only sack a quarterback if you're standing? What next? You have to get a note from his mommy giving you permission to hit him? Why not say you have to count to seven "Mississippis" before you even start the pass rush? How about a ten-yard penalty they count off too fast, like in backyard football rules?

We're not talking helmet to helmet hits, blindsides or clotheslines here -- we're talking about giving the quarterback so much protection you might as well have a ring of armed Secret Service agents around him. If a tackler goes to the QB's knee, he can't even ATTEMPT to sack the quarterback until the QB returns to an upright position? Give me a break!

My second beef is, if this was such a huge problem, why didn't anyone bring it up before media darling Tom Brady got hurt? If this injury had happened to, let's say, Jeff Rowe in Seattle, would the committee be so quick to make such a major change? I doubt it, and you know it's true.

If the NFL continues to dilute the rules to protect everyone, they might as well lose the pads, outlaw tackling and attach a couple pieces of cloth to everyone's hips, because the NFL will be little more than one hell of an expensive flag football league. C'mon guys, suck it up!

Unless otherwise stated, no particular sexual orientation of anyone depicted is implied or should be presumed.

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