Are We Doing the “Player Safety” Thing or Not?

Christopher Gates has been the lead writer at The Daily Norseman since the site launched in July of 2006, covering the Minnesota Vikings day in and day out.

Whenever the National Football League makes a rule change, the reason that is inevitably cited is “player safety.” And that’s understandable, given that the NFL is a multi-billion dollar industry and wants to protect its product as much as possible.

With such an emphasis on “player safety,” it seems reasonable to ask why the head and neck region of Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold is, apparently, fair game for opposing defenders.

Last night, Darnold took what could best be described as a right cross to the head from Indianapolis…