via Twitter
“The quarterback was still a runner and therefore is allowed to be hit in the head. He had not yet begun his slide. There is no foul” NFL referee Shawn Hochuli said Sunday during the Browns-Buccaneers game after Baker Mayfield was clearly drilled in the head by Tampa safety Jordan Whitehead. Let that explanation from Hochuli soak in for a minute. Bro, are you even listening to yourself speak?
I’m the furthest from being a Browns fan, but that right there is exactly why NFL fans are worn out by the league. They’re tired of the rules being made up seemingly by the week and interpreted different ways for different players. Shawn, it doesn’t matter if you’re the quarterback, punter, long snapper, etc. you’re not allowed to be hit in the head by an opponent’s helmet like this. Give back your weekly check right now. Your father must be embarrassed.
Here’s the updated helmet rule for 2018:
“Lowering the head to initiate contact with the helmet is a foul.” It is intended to remove unnecessary use of the helmet. The hits don’t have to come to the head or neck but anywhere on the body. Players cannot use their helmets to “butt, spear or ram an opponent.”
Plays subject to ejection include when a player has an “unobstructed path” to his opponent or “contact was clearly avoidable,” but the player chose to lower his head and use his helmet.
Wait a minute, I thought you weren't allowed to go helmet to helmet at all, but I'm not an expert. Maybe one of you can help me here. (from @GVartwork) pic.twitter.com/Y3sValhh2R
— Busted Coverage (@bustedcoverage) October 21, 2018
Now let’s go back to May when the NFL started trotting out all the new rules. This is straight from the NFL. No fake news, no edited news, in their own words:
Today owners approved the ejection standards to go along with the Use of the Helmet rule. Here’s the rule explained with video examples from the 2017 @NFL season. pic.twitter.com/Dzs4EWGVdx
— NFL Football Operations (@NFLFootballOps) May 22, 2018
Ironically, here is Ed Hochuli giving his son a lesson on the helmet rule via a video tweeted out by NFL officiating on Saturday. Guess Junior didn’t watch it.
There are three requirements officials are looking at when it comes to the Use of Helmet foul. 28-year @NFL official Ed Hochuli breaks it down: pic.twitter.com/UMvy3CxB3w
— NFL Officiating (@NFLOfficiating) October 20, 2018
