Helmet-to-helmet hits a headache

Bombers chip in on where to draw line

By: Adam Wazny Posted: 1:00 AM CDT Thursday, Oct. 21, 2010

Most of the discussion in football circles -- aside from the local playoff possibility angle -- has to do with growing concern over helmet-to-helmet hits in the National Football League.

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Most of the discussion in football circles -- aside from the local playoff possibility angle -- has to do with growing concern over helmet-to-helmet hits in the National Football League.

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This article was published 21/10/2010 (5805 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Most of the discussion in football circles — aside from the local playoff possibility angle — has to do with growing concern over helmet-to-helmet hits in the National Football League.

Growing concern might be an understatement. Try a full-on headache.

Everyone with an attraction to the sport has an opinion on the matter, of course, but what do members of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers have to say about the rash of brutal hits? Not surprisingly, they feel hard knocks and some helmet-to-helmet hits are just the cost of doing business, and are surprised at some of the reaction they’ve heard since Sunday.

DAVID LIPNOWSKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
Bomber receiver Terrence Edwards (left) and defensive back Jonathan Hefney know big hits will never be taken out of football. — DAVID LIPNOWSKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Bomber receiver Terrence Edwards (left) and defensive back Jonathan Hefney know big hits will never be taken out of football.

“I don’t think it will ever be out of the game — if you try to take it out then you change the game,” Bombers receiver Terrence Edwards said after practice Wednesday. “It’s a reaction-sport, and guys are trying to make a play when they can. We’re in a barbaric sport, at times, and in my opinion, that’s just the way it is.”

Over the weekend, a handful of hard hits took place in various NFL stadiums. Pittsburgh linebacker James Harrison was involved in two separate incidents, leading with his head to hit Cleveland receivers Josh Cribbs and Mohamed Massaquoi, while New England safety Brandon Meriweather and Atlanta Falcons cornerback Dunta Robinson delivered knockout blows to Baltimore’s Todd Heap and Philadelphia’s DeSean Jackson, respectively.

All four ‘tacklers’ were handed heavy fines for their actions.

“I always have been taught that if a receiver is going to catch a pass, you hit him hard,” Bombers defensive back Jonathan Hefney said. “How is it fair that an offensive player can hit me at full speed but I’m not allowed to hit him — I have to let up? Everyone wants the offence to do well. The only way the defence can shut that down is by banging them and knocking them out. Are you going to tell a guy in a championship game to lay off on a hit?”

Hefney says it’s getting tough to play a tough brand of defence these days and makes a good point: The last thing he wants to do is field questions from the coaches during a film session as to why he didn’t stick his nose into a play.

The CFL doesn’t allow any direct hits to the head in any form and even went so far as to send out a video package to teams before the season. Ten clips of various high hits and head shots, with instructions that those types of blows would be flagged by officials. Bombers head coach Paul LaPolice said his staff instructs players to not only make a clean tackle, but try to put a hit on the football and force a turnover.

Cracking on the football is as rare as a clean, two-arm wrap-up around a guy’s torso, though. A ball carrier is a moving target and when a defender makes a decision to go in for what appears to be a clean strike, the intended target has often shifted to another position to escape the direct hit. That’s when an intended clean hit has the potential for serious injury.

Pretend you’re holding a football and brace yourself for an oncoming hit. Chances are, your shoulders will collapse in, your knees will bend, and your head will lower into your chest. Suddenly, an innocent-looking play becomes an illegal hit to the helmet and the cries for a two-hand touch, Nerf-football style of game grow louder.

Last season, Edwards missed two games after Montreal linebacker Shea Emry delivered a cheap-shot to his grill (he suffered a concussion, while Emry only suffered a $750 fine), so he has first-hand experience with the subject matter.

“I know everybody wants to be on SportsCentre, but some of those hits are uncalled for,” Edwards says. “You can’t take away the hard football hits — that’s what makes this game great. The flagrant head shots, the spears to a guy’s head — those are the ones that need some serious consequences.

“I’m talking money. When you start taking game cheques away from guys, that’s when the message starts to get across.”

adam.wazny@freepress.mb.ca