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Originally Posted by jjrye22
First off, Bisonlj - great summary. Covered all the points, was polite and informative.
Second - the second video link that was posted to show that the defender is a 'headhunter' and got flagged on the other play. In the other play, the reciever was no where near the ball and was starting to pull up and look around for where the ball had been thrown. A 'defenseless player' as opposed to the play in this topic where the player had the ball and could reasonably expect a contact.
Third - Everyone here has talked about leading with the helmet and it being a foul. It is my experience that LEADING with the helmet is a lot different than contact with the helmet during the tackle. Question: Who here would classify this contact as leading with the helmet at all?
To me it looked like he was trying to hit tha ball carrier with the shoulder, and their heads got in the way. Look at video where spearing is called and you will usually (please note the qualifier) see a different type of tackle motion.
On a personal note, I hate having plays like this, and always second guess myself afterwards if I didn't throw a flag. Most of the time I feel I was right not to (when I don't throw one), but it is SO hard to see and process these in the time we have on the field.
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Personally, I dislike the term "leading with the helmet" because it implies illegality due to the helmet strinking first. Nowhere in any rule book I have seen (Canadian and NAFL at least) does the term "leading" appear and this is because given the position of the head on the body and given that the helmet can legally be involved in contact, it will invariably strike first in many cases and this first striking is not in and of itself illegal.
What is illegal is using the helmet as the primary force of contact so that the contact becomes a ramming action ("butt, spear and ram" do appear in rulebooks).
So long as players tackle by moving forward and bending their bodies, the head (and consequantly the helmet) will lead the way!