“We Want It Out”: Tyreek Hill’s Injury the Last Straw as Roger Goodell Gives an Ultimatum for Hip Drop Tackle

Heading into the Week-14 game against the Titans, Miami Dolphins receiver Tyreek Hill was tailing Calvin Johnson’s single-season 2012 NFL record of 1,964 yards. Unfortunately, an ankle injury on the far sideline warranted Hill to bow out of the game prematurely. Less than a month back, ranking second on Baltimore Ravens considering targets, receptions, and yardage, TE Mark Andrews had a season-ending injury. If you ask what is common in both these cases? The hip drop tackle.

These are just two instances out of many others that led to players walking gingerly to the sideline. With the hip-drop tackle by Sean Murphy-Bunting at the 3:03 mark posed at Hill, the debate about the move sparked up once again. Only this time, it seems Hill would be the last to endure the agonizing consequences as the NFL might be moving towards a historic decision. NFL insider said that Commissioner Roger Goodell “flat out” deems that it needs to go.

NFL has seen and felt the devastating consequences of hip-drop tackles!

Deemed as a 25-times higher risk of injury than a normal tackle by NFL executive Jeff Miller, hip drop tackle is a move wherein a defensive player grabs the ballcarrier, spins around their body, and falls on the back of their legs to bring down the opponent. In the process, more often than not, Often, the offensive player’s legs suffer an awkward turn under the deadweight of the defensive player’s body. As alarming as it sounds, reports further indicate that at least one hip-drop tackle occurs in every game.

In the latest episode of ‘The Rich Eisen Show,’ NFL Insider Tom Pelissero discussed the most interesting thing that happened in the NFL panel lately was the rules discussion related to hip-drop tackle. Pelissero said, “Goodell flat out said….we want to get it out of the game and they’re coming up with ways to define it. They’ve seen too many injuries, the fact that Tyreek Hill got hurt on Monday night on a hip drop tackle.”

In another press conference from league ownership meetings on Wednesday, Goodell stated that efforts should be made to eliminate the hip-drop tackle from the game. Not only this, but it now seems that followers of the sport have a timeline for when they might pull the plug on it. Goodell predicted, “It’s not just happening at the NFL level. It’s happening at other levels. It’s something that I feel we’ve got to work very hard to get that removed this spring.”

The NFL considered banning the hip-drop tackle last season but couldn’t make a decision. But now, with top offensive players getting injured due to the controversial technique, Goodell and the NFL panel aim to ban it before the next season. Well, the league’s health and safety officials couldn’t afford to further ignore the obvious danger. The implementation would be visible in the upcoming off-season.

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When will the ban discussions actually start?

An NBC Sports article claims the owners will vote on it in March. Apparently, negotiations and deliberations before the 2023 season didn’t take shape unlike this time wherein important people, including the commissioner, have been abundantly clear about their reservations about the hip drop tackle. In fact, at one point during October, the  Chairman of the NFL’s competition committee, Rich McKay, called the hip-drop tackle the cousin of the horse collar.

“When they use that tactic, you can see why they do, because it can be a smaller man against a bigger man and they’re trying to get that person down because that’s the object of the game. But when they do it, the runner becomes defenseless. They can’t kick their way out from under. And that’s the problem.” Much to be seen how this pans out before the next season starts.

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