what's with all this hair?

[MD Longhorn]

Originally Posted by Robert Goodman

Head hair and beards are parts of the head, right? So tackling by pulling the hair should be legal only to the extent tackling by the head is legal. Seriously, what is the difference what purchase someone has if it results in the same bending of the neck?

Given that there is no actual book definition to define what a HEAD is (please tell me we don't need one ... egads), I see no justification for expanding the rules regarding the head to include hair. You would not penalize a hair-slap. You would not penalize a player that tried to tackle a runner and only contacted hair.

Hair is connected to your head ... but so is (eventually) the rest of your body.

I think I'd consider the "head" to be the part of the body covered by a helmet (in fact, some of the rules state helmet, not head, and the terms are interchangeable).