Today’s

topic the hip drop tackle.  To be honest,

I had no clue what it was until I saw it on YouTube.  A hip-drop tackle is when a defender wraps up an

offensive player on the side or from behind, becoming dead-weight while often

landing on the player's legs. The technique has become popular as players get

faster and stronger, giving smaller defenders a chance in a league.  I

do understand the rationale behind the competition committee banning this

move.  By banning this tackle the belief

is there will be a reduction in injuries. 

League executives began saying last year, inflicted injury at 25 times

the rate of the average tackle. And this wasn't just any injury, the league's

health and safety committee said. This was a time-loss injury.  Robert Griffin III, another former

player-turned-commentator, posted a video to his X feed and wrote: “With the

NFL unanimously voting to ban the Hip-Drop tackle, it’s only a matter of time

before football as we know it, is just physical flag football.”  Let’s take a trip to a simpler and more

violent time in football.  The year 1906,

in college football terms, this year is best known as the year the forward pass

was first legalized.  The major focus of

changes was to open up the game and to make the game less brutal.  Mind you this was when they wore leather

helmets or nothing at all.