Jadeveon Clowney’s hit on the Michigan running back in the bowl game last year was very exciting I must admit. But the director of officials for the ACC and Steve Shaw, the SEC director of officials, both said that would be an illegal hit this year. And if that was the case, Clowney would have been ejected from that game and miss half of the first game of the season against North Carolina on Thursday, Aug. 29th on ESPN at 6 PM ET/5 CT. That would be a shame for him and his team, but with the prevalence of concussions nowadays and the dangers that they cause–possible paralysis, later depression which has led to some suicides by former players, dementia and even Parkinson’s, it’s a must that the leaders of college football employ this rule.
I love great hits like Clowney’s, but Terry Bowden made a good point about it. Teams and coaches can make adjustments. Terry said that when his father, Bobby, played there were leather helmets and no head injuries because players tackled with their shoulders first. It can be done. It’s just too dangerous and can be even deadly, and the NCAA and college football must adjust not only for these guys’ safety–though that is the most important thing– but with the repercussions of lawsuits that would follow. With the lawsuit now ongoing with the Ed O’Bannon case against the NCAA for licensing them on games by EA Sports–O’Bannon and several others are suing the NCAA and EA Sports for compensation in a major lawsuit that could mean hundreds of millions–and with former NFL players suing the league for concussion repercussions, it’s imperative the NCAA do something.
But mainly, they are just trying to protect these guys. It’ll be kind of confusing at times for the officials on the field on what to call; if it was a head blow or not. But they will have officials upstairs in the official’s box reviewing those calls with the power to overrule a call on the field. So I think they’ve got a pretty good grip on this. The players are just going to have to adjust. It’ll be a 15-yard penalty like last year and an automatic ejection and if it happens in the second half, ejection from the first half of the next game and maybe even for the entire game.
I read in USA Today where Boise State coach Chris Peterson was studying rugby games to see how the players in that sport who play without any protective gear and tackle with their shoulders avoid major head injuries. There will be some incidents on the field, but hopefully the players will get that they can’t lead with their heads. Once some of them get ejected, they’ll adjust.
I think it makes college football safer and with the way dangerous head injuries are affecting former players and current players, the NCAA had to do something about it. College football will be fine with these new rules. We’ll still see Clowney, C.J. Mosley, Vinnie Sunseri and Ha Ha Clinton-Dix delivering some good hits, but they will be legal and not lethal.