He has been suspended one game for his horse collar tackle of McNabb yesterday. Source: ESPN Monday Night Countdown
When you're slow as molasses, and play S, a position where you have to make a lot of open field tackles, you have no choice but to grab them by the collar of their shoulder pads.... How this guy is STILL a starting S in the NFL, and on a contending team, is beyond me.... He is terrible
I still think there shoul dbe no "horse collar" rule. A defender's job is to tackle the offensive player, so if he's behind the guy he's basically screwed, which is an unfair advantage to the offense. Hell, your allowed to rip a guys hair out in order to tackle him (if it's long enough) so why the hell can't you pull him down from his uniform? And don't get me started on the QB slide bullshit.
Why not just let them face mask the hell out of people too? If a tackling method is proving that it is a safety issue it should be addressed. That is why proper tackling technique is important, both to the tackler and the one being tackled. This is the gladiator games in the days of Rome.
I'm for the suspension, but do you know if there are any players guilty of three face mask penalties this year? I don't...... but if there are, shouldn't they be suspended for a game if Williams gets a game for 3 horse collars? IF not, it seems he is being singled out, or is the NFL saying a horse collar is more dangerous that a face mask. The penalty is 15 yards for both, so I don't see how they can be saying that.
If I was Andy Reid, I would've ordered a cheap shot on Roy Williams. Williams horse collared McNabb, and everyone knows McNabb's ankles and knees are both weak. Williams is a bum and someone is going to take him out if he keeps doing this.
...because when a player horse collared, he has a huge chance of being injured. Their knees and ankles, and maybe even necks and backs are at risk if some idiot defensive back decides to pull them down by their collar. Have you ever heard of wrapping up? That's how you're supposed to tackle, if the player gets past you, you're obviously out of position and/or you just got beat.
? Facemasks turn your head violently, they don't snap your neck. No one has ever had to sit out a game and leave the playoff run up to a backup because of a facemask. Horsecollars are for slow idiots that can't make open field tackles. They danger the knees, ankles, and both leg bones and muscles.
That is a good point. I think what you should see is a judgment call from the league after they can review the tapes on either type of penalty, or any other unsafe issue and fine/suspend accordingly. If someone grabs the collar while tackling and it isn't severe (like how Williams whipped McNabb around) then no suspension, maybe a fine. If you try to twist someone's head off ala Turley style then it should be a suspension as well.
It's not by his jersey, it's by his shoulder pads.... I've been playing football since I was 5 years old, and I can't remember once 'having' to reach and grab a guy by the collar of the shoulder pads to bring him down.... It's a conscious choice to make a tackle the 'easy' way.... If you're close enough to reach and pull him down by the collar of the shoulder pads, you're close enough to hit him in the legs, hip, etc, or grab his jersey
because it is an intent to injure, you have to get your hand inside the pads, it was first made illegal after roy williams hurt several guys in 1 year, most notably breaking T.O's leg, there is no reason to need to make a horsecollar tackle, unless you are trying to injure a player
Wrapping up? What's that? Do you think every player is perfect and never has to tackle someone from behind? And if they do it's because they are out of position or beat? I really hope not.... Hell, it is often a great play and effort and getting yourself into position that leads to a tackle from behind. A cornerback chasing someone down in the middle of the field after shedding a block.....a defensive lineman running downfield after someone on a run, or a linebacker that was in a zone on the opposite side of the field. But nooo......they got beat or were out of position. As you may have noticed in your time watching football or perhaps learning the intricacies of the sport, there is hardly ever a play that every thing works right and the way it was planned. So it is very very rare for a player to have a clear shot to wrap up and form tackle, thus making tackles from behind quite common actually. First off, I really don't care how long you've played football, or at what level. If you want to go that route, I played from when I was 8-18, which honestly doesn't mean a damn thing. As for it being a "conscious choice" or the "easy way", sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't. What I mean is, maybe, just maybe, a defender was going for the shoulderpad or the jersey but accidentally got his hand in the collar. Sounds plausible, no? Or as you say, if your close enough to reach his collar then you are close enough to hit him in other areas.....not neccessarily true. The defender's momentum may be carrying him out of bounds or past the runner. Or the runner may just be faster, in which case I don't see how you can really hit someone from behind unless you reach out for them. But there certainly are players that do it as a conscious decision, which is also fine by me. It's the easy way, yes. But if it means a sure-fire tackle, then it's the right way too. Why risk having your hand slip off a jersey when you can just move it up one more inch and get a firm grasp on something solid?
I loved seeing Larry Johnson drag down Troy Polamalu by the hair. I also liked it when Ricky Williams was dragged down by his hair. Players who don't keep their long hair wrapped up inside their helmet are asking for trouble. The league essentially told them that if they want to be dumbasses, they can be dumbasses. It is those players' choice to potentially get taken down by the hair.
The basic fact is, if an offensive player has a break on you, and the only way to prevent a TD is to horsecollar, 10 times out of 10 the defender will take the penalty over the TD.
Why don't we just throw Rapunzel out there while we're at it. I hate long hair in the NFL. Barf, actually.
First off, why the hostility? Playing does mean something, in this debate, because it's about whether or not a horse collar tackle is ever actually necessary, which I believe the general consensus here (and by the NFL, seeing as how they banned it) is that it never is.... Pulling a guy down by the collar of his shoulder pads is the same as pulling him down by his facemask. The reason why it is illegal to grab and tug on these 'more solid' parts of the uniform is that the body isn't designed to go up against that kind of resistance, thus resulting in injuries.... And it's possible that here and there it happens by accident, but when it does, it often isn't a violent take down, and it often isn't called (see the Vikings WR being brought down at the 1 yard line yesterday).... The way Williams, and most of the other guys who get flagged for it, do it is a conscious decision.. If you've seen these plays and don't believe that, then I don't know what to tell you... A couple other things... Unless you're approaching a ball-carrier from the front (at which point it would be ridiculous to grab the horse collar), since athletes tend to run with their torso leaned slightly if not dramatically forward, which is why I said that if you can reach all the way up to the back of his collar, you can/should be able to reach his legs or hips... Again, since you've played football, you obviously know that a horsecollar is NOT the only way to pull down a a faster ball carrier when approaching him from behind... You could grab his jersey, or you could dive at the back of his legs, the latter being the more common approach.... The general idea is that if you grab solid padding instead of the ball carrier's body or cloth, you're going to be penalized.... The suddenness with which a runner's momentum can be stopped, and his body subsequently contorted with the weight of another pulling on the solid padding of the horsecollar or facemask can be extremely dangerous....
All I gotta say is that I'm glad they're getting serious about constant rule breakers. A horse collar can ruin a young man's career if he's unlucky. I think McNabb was lucky he got up without even a hitch.
