Remember during the preseason when NFL game officials threw penalty flags for any hit to a player’s head? Remember the controversy over a new rule that prohibited any player — on offense or defense — from initiating contact with his helmet?
There were so many penalties called, even on incidental helmet-first contact, that some players feared the game was being ruined.
It led to ejections and the threat of suspensions. Remember?
Yeah, well, that isn’t happening any longer.
The new rule certainly didn’t protect Oakland wide receiver Amari Cooper on Sunday.