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Safety, skepticism come with NFL's crown of the helmet rule

Adding "ejection" to the NFL's initiative to eliminate the use of the crown of the helmet -- both on defense and offense -- is meant to scare the safety into football.

Watching Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Ryan Shazier crash into an opponent that resulted in a spinal cord injury last season likely frightened the hell out of every NFL player.

The push from New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton and the rest of the league's competition committee to "take the helmet out the game" is long overdue.

Yet the perception of diminishing defense from the game likely scares the hell out of some defensive players.