Quote:
Originally Posted by 102SS
This is a lot like banning the horse collar tackle it is dangerous and leads to injuries
With the hip drop the tackler pulls the opponent towards them and gator rolls onto their legs.
The potential for injury is significant.
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I do realize that, but what are the defenders alternatives in that situation? Typically that tackle is going to be made from behind and the defenders goal in using that technique is to bring the ball carriers down and prevent him from gaining any additional yards. Maybe the ballcarrier is close to a first down and the intent is to stop his forward momentum. What can he do now? If he grabs him around the waist or higher and drives through the runner (assuming he has enough speed to do that) then he is basically conceding the first down. He could attempt to dive and wrap up the runner's legs, but then what is the potential for injury going to be in that case?
My concern with the quality of the competition is that we end up with situations like the Saints-Vikings play-off game in 2018 after they started calling penalties on high hits and the Saints defenders was afraid to hit Diggs high, so he dove at his legs and missed and basically let him catch the ball and run for the game winning TD. Six years later, defenders pretty much let receivers catch the ball before they tackle them, rather that risk a unnecessary roughness penalty.
They have done an awful lot to tie the hands of the defense in the name of player safety and if their goal is to eliminate every type of contact that has the potential to cause injury, eventually they'll be playing two-hand touch.
