re: Targeting rule good or bad...

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I’ve seen a few calls where the tackling player was going for an otherwise clean tackle only to be called for targeting because the RB gave him a headbutt at the last second. I’d imaging some coaches are instructing RBs to try to draw targeting calls tbh.

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I see thus more with receivers and QBs lowering their bodies to brace for a hit, which causes the defensive player (who's already committed) to make an impossible play of getting even lower to make a "clean" tackle. With them also changing the rules to disallow hits below the knees (where we've also seen penalties called for hits to the hip or thigh), the rules have shrunk the tackling zone to something that really isn't feasible in a lot of instances. Essentially, these new rules for "player safety" have resulted in there being plays throughout a game where you have to make the choice of simply letting not hitting the offensive player or get called for a penalty and possibly ejected. It's a violent sport. You can only protect players so much. But at the end of the day, the players know what they signed up for at this point. There is no longer the ignorant card they can pull that they didn't know head injuries may be prevalent in football and cause long-lasting damage.