Fans, coaches, players, and probably even officials are wringing their hands and grinding their teeth in frustration and angst over what some are assuming will be the biggest change to the game of football since the Mel Blount Rule. The new rule—yet to be finalized—aimed at policing the use of the helmet as a weapon has provided a great deal of controversy in an already critical offseason for the NFL.
Many fear that the rule is going to be implemented and officiated with extreme prejudice, to the point where we are going to see a number of infractions every game, and frequent ejections, perhaps for a period of years before players finally begin to adapt in the necessary ways to avoid using their helmets to initiate and strike a blow.