When the NFL announced a proposal to ban the “hip-drop” tackle this upcoming season, it was met with some strong pushback from the NFL Players Association. But it sounds like the NFL is planning to move forward with that ban anyway.
During a Thursday conference call with reporters regarding the proposal rule changes, NFL executive V.P. of football operations Troy Vincent made it clear that the league still plans to ban the tackling style this upcoming season, even if the players disagree with that decision.
“I’ve been in that position before as a leader of the Player’s Association involved in many of the meetings,” Vincent said according to Pro Football Talk.
“There’s always going to be resistance from the player when you talk about removing things. There’s going to be resistance, and I respect that. There was resistance in removing the blindside block. There was resistance removing the crackback block. There was resistance removing the attack block. There was resistance removing the horse collar. Again, I mentioned it earlier in the opening, durability and availability is the number one and two aspect for any professional athlete and particularly with football players. I have a technique that causes 20 to 25-percent injury rate when it occurs. I respect their position, but as gatekeepers of the game . . . this is something that we have to remove.”
The league is proposing penalizing the tackle with a 15-yard penalty and an automatic first down.
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