ORLANDO -- The most significant takeaway from the NFL Annual Meeting is one that changes the game of football – how it’s played, how it’s officiated, and how it’s watched. Get on board with the new rule now in place after a vote from the league’s owners that penalizes and potentially ejects players who lower their helmets and use it to initiate contract with another player, because it’s perhaps the most sport-altering rule in decades.
This is huge, gang, and you’d better wrap your arms and minds around it to fully grasp the impact. Defenders who lower their helmets to make a tackle, defensive linemen who lower their helmets when they bull rush an offensive lineman and ball carriers who lower their helmets to push for extra yardage or, in some cases, protect their sternum areas from potential injury, are all subject to penalties.