Horse collar Penalty

First off, stoked for the very lucky win!

I know the rule but why is it a penalty? I mean you can tackle people by thier hair, tackle them by thier helmet and nearly rip thier head off (Robinson on Lockett, how fast was he by the way) and they are perfectly acceptable.

So whats with this rule?

Also for how many weeks is Gresham buying steak dinners for Ryan? That cold aint nuthin huh Clint.

The rule came into effect about ten years ago because players were using the horse collar to drive players down to the ground backwards, which would sometimes cause the tackled-player's legs to become trapped under the weight of his body. This led to some serious injuries and the Seahawks were one of the team to vote to ban the maneuver.

Roy Williams kept breaking legs and tearing ACL's tackling that way as a technique.

I believe Shaun Alexander broke his foot on a horse collar tackle.

In its inception, it way the Roy Williams / Priest Holmes rule. Priest messed up his hips while being tackled that way not once but twice I believe. The NFL then opened their eyes and banned it.

I thought it was from t.o. getting hurt

Thanks for the explanation. I have been wondering this too. Yes, there are a lot of injuries where a players leg gets trapped underneath, as their body falls backwards. IIRC, Jimmy Graham's injury was of that variety, just from leaning back to catch a ball and getting his leg trapped under and folded back.

Seanhawk":3dhoxtui said:

I believe Shaun Alexander broke his foot on a horse collar tackle.

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Nope.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKrOpU-FfIg

I really didn't have a problem with the call. It was legit. Illegal tackle all the way and right in front of the official.

StaffAmerica74":36nclg61 said:

I thought it was from t.o. getting hurt

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Yeah it basically was. He was the high profile player that was knocked out for significant time that cause the league to propose making horse collars illegal.

HawkFan72":2byqmjsi said:

StaffAmerica74":2byqmjsi said:

I thought it was from t.o. getting hurt

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Yeah it basically was. He was the high profile player that was knocked out for significant time that cause the league to propose making horse collars illegal.

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Yep. Tore a ligament in his ankle if I remember right, it was while he played for the Eagles.

olyfan63":o85r8ec2 said:

Thanks for the explanation. I have been wondering this too. Yes, there are a lot of injuries where a players leg gets trapped underneath, as their body falls backwards. IIRC, Jimmy Graham's injury was of that variety, just from leaning back to catch a ball and getting his leg trapped under and folded back.

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So was Rawls. Sadly, if he'd have just gone down easier, he'd still be playing.

Sucks that Coleman did it and the hawks got the penalty but it's a good rule. As mentioned, to many guys were getting dragged down backwards on a dead sprint and getting hurt. Would have liked to see another view of that play because it appeared that if he didn't commit the penalty the runner may have busted it.

irocdave":uzakxnhv said:

Sucks that Coleman did it and the hawks got the penalty but it's a good rule. As mentioned, to many guys were getting dragged down backwards on a dead sprint and getting hurt. Would have liked to see another view of that play because it appeared that if he didn't commit the penalty the runner may have busted it.

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His hand wasn't tucked inside the collar though - you're allowed to put your hand in there, you just can't pull the other player down by it. I thought pulling the jersey NEAR the collar is legal, but not having your hand inside the collar (essentially grabbing the shoulder pads).

Which is what I thought happened - maybe I just didn't look closely enough at the replay.

Agree it was by the jersey only but still a foul if he is brought straight down. I forgot to run the play back to look closer at knees buckling etc.

http://www.timesrecordnews.com/columnis ... l?d=mobile

Cheers for the replies all, didn't realise it was such a injury magnet type play.