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I don't see why Rush is so against this. I have coached football on the youth, middle school, high school and college levels and defenders on all of those levels are not allowed to spear when tackling (striking the opponent with the top of the head). Maybe it's just because I've mostly been a defensive coach, but this seems to just put on the offensive side of the ball what already is a rule on the defensive side of the ball.

another rule that doesn't apply equally to the O and D sides of the ball is the face mask penalty. If a defender brushes the face mask of the ball carrier its a penalty. If the ball carrier stiff arms the defenders face mask, no penalty.

He’s against it because he makes a good living posturing hollowly and being against stuff. I think it’s a good rule, if only because we’ve been seeing ball carriers duck “into” tackles causing helmet to helmet hits, probably trying to get that extra 15. And really if they’re trying to reduce concussions then they have to make the head not a legitimate weapon or target for everybody. “That brain damage causing hit was legal because of who hit who” just doesn’t fly if you’re really trying to make the game safer.

#37

I’m guessing Rush is on about it because he believes that the people at the very top pushing to change change football don’t really give a damn about football or football players. They hate football. They despise everything it represents. It’s too male. It’s too imperialistic and American. They want it eliminated. So, like gun legislation, they will start small. A lawsuit here. A changed rule there. In the editorial columns of newspapers, in the stories promoted on Yahoo! and AOL, repeat the mantra, ‘football is dangerous’, ‘football is dangerous’, ‘football is dangerous’... Then the Marxists in the local school boards will start suggesting that football is too dangerous for little Johnny and little Leroy to be playing. When some little boy has an accident or dies suddenly on the field they politicians will stand next to his corpse and say, “How many more must be sacrificed to the machine?” Just like gun control. The ones at the top of the gun control movement want the private ownership of all firearms to be a felony. Period. The ones at the bottom may not be thinking that today but when it comes around to it they will say, “Yes, they are probably right” and start calling the snitch-lines to rat out their gun hiding neighbors. Same with the Boy Scouts. The movement to ‘Fundamentally change’ the US ratchets forward.