Taking a knee

[JasonTX]

Originally Posted by JRutledge

This is what is so frustrating with having a real conversation with many here. You take words and place them in people's arguments because you do not agree with it. No one here said anything about preventing someone getting hurt or stop from someone playing hard. We tell players to do things all the time and they either follow or they suffer the consequences. We tell players to line up a certain way (when to move up on the line or move back off the line), we tell them to watch their hands or stop when the play is over and we even tell them not to hit the center directly, but all of a sudden it is wrong to inform players of the situation where a team has clearly decided they are not going to run a play and to tell them to "be careful" which has always meant to me is not go over the top and start some trouble. If the damn offense fumbles the ball, then they fumble the ball and everything is the same. But that is not what anyone cares about; they are trying to stop players from over reacting to things that happen when the player is over. How about allowing a player to run head strong over the line and hit a player that is not blocking anymore? Are we to just say, "Well that is football." Usually when the game is over is the time when things can clearly get out of hand and have gotten that way in the past.

Peace

Do you tell them to "be careful" on every play of the game? The defense, I believe, is fully aware that they cannot hit a player after the ball is dead. When you tell a kid to "be careful" on a kneel down you have essentially told him to not go full speed. You have a muffed snap and the defense has basically quit because that is how they interpret your "be careful" you have taken away their right to play to 0:00. I believe in preventive officiating 100%. I'm just as prepared to flag a late hit on a kneel down play just as I am a normal play in the first qtr. I'm quickly coming in when he takes a knee, just as I do on any other play where there are piles of players after making a tackle. As I said previously, if you are expecting the players to ease up, then just let the clock run without a delay foul.