NFL Owners Officially Banned The Swivel Hip-Drop Tackle
It’s time for the annual league meeting and big news has already come out. The NFL owners, in conjunction with the NFL’s Competition Committee, unanimously voted to officially ban the hip-drop tackle. However, the NFLPA had vehemently voiced their opposition prior to the vote. This decision appears to deal another blow to the defensive side of the ball. Many of the players felt that banning the tackle would further hinder their ability to do their job. Nevertheless, NFL executive vice president of football operations Troy Vincent said it was something the league wanted, “to get out of the game.”
This is the official rule:
ARTICLE 18. HIP-DROP TACKLE. It is a foul if a player uses the following technique to bring a runner to the ground:
(a) grabs the runner with both hands or wraps the runner with both arms; and
(b) unweights himself by swiveling and dropping his hips and/or lower body, landing on and trapping the runner’s leg(s) at or below the knee.
Penalty: For a Hip-Drop Tackle: Loss of 15 yards and an automatic first down.
According to the league this type of tackle has a 20-25 times the injury rate versus a regular tackle. However, the swivel hip-drop tackle does not get used very often. Per NFL data, the tackle was used less than 230 times last season which is less than one time per game. Out of those 230 times, 15 players were hurt and missed time because of it. Hence the higher injury rate. But if the tackle is not frequently used, why the need to ban it? The rate of attrition doesn’t seem to warrant the ban. So what does it mean now that it’s banned? One player posted on X: “Add it to the list of ways to get fined.”
NFL Owners Officially Banned The Swivel Hip-Drop Tackle
Clearly the players expect to get penalized and fined. And that seems to be the case based on what NFL Competition Committee chairman Rich McKay said. “This will be a hard one to call on the field, you have to see every element of it. We want to make it a rule so we can deal on the discipline during the week.” It sounds like they will figure things out as they go along. And defensive players will pay the price.
There were also two other rule changes that were approved.
- By Competition Committee; amends Rule 14, Section 5, Article 2, to allow for an enforcement of a major foul by the offense prior to a change of possession in a situation where there are fouls by both teams.
- By Competition Committee; amends Rule 12, Section 2, to eliminate a potentially dangerous tackling technique.
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