Readers: League can do more to protect defenseless players

Respondents to the poll question, "Do you think the league should continue to explore ways of protecting defenseless players?" believe that the NFL could do more in this area. However, it wasn't an overwhelming majority who believe that.

Slightly more than half of the respondents (52.4 percent) said that they think the league can do more to help protect defenseless players. However, 36.7 percent of the respondents to the poll question said that they don't think the league needs to do more in this area and 10.9 percent of respondents said they don't care.

At last week's owners' meetings, NFL owners voted unanimously for rule changes that protect defenseless players and set stricter guidelines for tacklers. In total, three rule changes were agreed upon, all by a vote of 32-0.

The league expanded on the previous rules that protect defenseless players to those who are "clearly not a runner." Those players include placekickers and punters who are not attempting to make a tackle, quarterbacks following an interception or fumble and a player who is blocked from the blind side when the blocker is moving toward his own endline and approaches the player being blocked from behind or the side. Hits on those players are now forbidden.

If the receiver or runner is able to avoid the impending contact from an opponent, however, that receiver or runner is no longer defenseless.

Owners also voted to make it against the rules for a player to leave his feet prior to contact by springing forward or upward into an opponent or using any part of his helmet to make forcible contact against any part of his opponent's body.

Source: http://www.profootballweekly.com/2011/06/01/readers-league-can-do-more-to-protect-defenseless

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