Pittsburgh Steelers’ Ryan Clark sees the future of the NFL based on the recent reports that the NFL is considering fining players for hitting low and he is not happy. Via the Pittsburgh Gazette:
“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.”
He went on to say:
“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.”
Most defensive players are quick to go to the “we are becoming flag football” line but I have to agree with him on this one. What body part will be left to hit an offensive player? We all know that safety is a huge deal or at least the league needs to pretend like it is because they are being sued so they will keep making rules like this. At some point we need to just let players understand the risk they take when playing football and just let us enjoy these hits.