[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by Robert Goodman

No, it was supposed to be to protect the knees, as was explained first to me here. If you're collared while running forward, your head will snap forward, not backward. It could bounce backward, of course, but the neck is not what this rule is about. If it were about protecting the neck, then all neck tackling would be outlawed, regardless of direction. And if it were about whiplash, then tackling from behind via contact with the back would be forbidden.

The rule came in place in football because Roy Williams from the Dallas Cowboys hurt two players by pulling them down. The second time was with T.O. of the Philadelphia Eagles where T.O. broke a leg when "horse collared" by Williams. The next year this rule was put in place and a year or two the NCAA followed, and then of course the NF had to follow them.

Peace