Why is NFL banning hip-drop tackle, and what does that even mean? Breaking down latest controversial rule change

ORLANDO, Fla. — The writing was on the wall when the NFL began publicizing its data.

The hip-drop tackle, league executives began saying last year, inflicted injury at 25 times the rate of the average tackle.

And this wasn’t just any injury, the league’s health and safety committee said. This was a time-loss injury.

Fifteen times last season — nearly once a week in a sport where each team plays 17 regular-season games — a player was tackled via what the league is now calling a “swivel” hip-drop tackle, and that player missed game time due to the tackle.

Perhaps as concerning for the committee: The 230 examples of this move that they found on 2023 tape represented a 60% increase from the previous season’s frequency.

Rich McKay says hip-drop ban passed unanimously. Interesting always, & especially after PA voiced concern over excess fining.

Ban is specifically for “swivel” version of hip-drop, not all versions, which will be hard to officiate consistently. Here are examples voters saw today: pic.twitter.com/XYWSxpQWe4

— Jori Epstein (@JoriEpstein) March 25, 2024

So for a league that claims health and safety goals, and certainly trends toward pro-offense and pro-scoring goals, the move was too costly to allow.

On Monday, at the league’s annual meeting in Orlando, NFL team ownership unanimously voted to ban the hip-drop tackle.

Or a version of it, depending on your definition.

“This isn’t an elimination of hip drop,” competition committee chairman Rich McKay said in a Monday afternoon press conference. “This is elimination of a swivel technique that doesn’t get used very often and when it is used, it is incredibly injurious to the runner. The runner is purely defenseless.

“Yes, we outlawed the hip drop. But what you may think [of], the drag from behind when he falls, that’s still a [legal] tackle. This is only that tackle where the player is lifting himself in the air and then falling on the legs.”

It’s a subtle distinction, and one subtle…

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Publish date : 2024-03-25 21:51:34

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