Football season is starting on Thursday with a not-so-small problem. The players don’t know what to do with their helmets.
Alarmed by rising concussion rates and the lasting effects of repeated hits to the head, the N.F.L. adopted a new rule — 49 indistinct words — prohibiting any player from lowering his head to make contact with an opponent.
Put simply, it outlawed using the helmet as a weapon. And it applies to everyone, including the running back digging in for the extra yard and the lineman bowing to prevent it.
Violating the rule would draw a 15-yard penalty or, possibly, an ejection from the game, plus a fine or a suspension.