Steelers safety Ryan Clark, like so many other NFL defensive players, is trying to figure out why there is a double standard when it comes to keeping offensive and defensive players safe.
While talking to the Post Gazette, Clark voiced his concern with the NFL reviewing the policy for hits to the lower leg area. Clark and so many others, feel that they won’t have an available target to hit pretty soon.
“I’m so disgusted with the NFL right now about those situations,” Clark said, via the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “If an offensive player makes enough of a stink, they’ll change it. I know Tony Gonzalez was extremely upset about the hit on Dustin Keller.”
Clark even brought up a moment last season where he gave up a score to Victor Cruz, because he couldn’t take the angle he wanted and deliver a proper blow to Cruz.
“I remember a hit I had on Victor Cruz last year, which was clearly legal, but it gave up seven points,” Clark said. “I hurt my team by doing something I deemed legal and something the NFL also deemed legal by not fining me. So you go to the other extreme. The guys know there is no way possible [to] get fined if [they] go low. It will be one or the other. Guys will hit up high and maybe risk getting a concussion or hurting a shoulder. When you get hit low, the season is going to be over. If they decide to change this rule, they might as well put flags on.”