Is face tackling legal?

[ajmc]

Originally Posted by Mike L

Does anyone seriously think they are going to remove face masks or, even sillier, go back to leather helmets? I mean really?

It seemed like a really radical suggestion back in the 1970s as well, but it got a lot of people's attention focused on the problem of serious head and spinal injuries.

The subsequent revising of the the teaching of some particularly dangerous tackling techniques, that were gaining popularity in that era, worked well enough to reduce the problem far enough that creation of the "spearing" penalty and subsequent expansion of "Face Teckling" and "butt blocking" were deemed sufficient rule expansions.

[Ed Hickland]

Originally Posted by ajmc

It seemed like a really radical suggestion back in the 1970s as well, but it got a lot of people's attention focused on the problem of serious head and spinal injuries.

The subsequent revising of the the teaching of some particularly dangerous tackling techniques, that were gaining popularity in that era, worked well enough to reduce the problem far enough that creation of the "spearing" penalty and subsequent expansion of "Face Teckling" and "butt blocking" were deemed sufficient rule expansions.

Can't believe it but for once I'm going to agree with Al.

Face masks were considered dangerous back in the late 60s because they were a lever that if pushed up with enough force could cause severe damage to the vertebra leading to spinal cord damage.

I witnessed such a tackle in 1968 and went to the funeral of a college player who I knew in 1967.

The response was a better design incorporating chin straps, better fit and padding on the lower back part of the helmet.