Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

The whole Tua situation has got me thinking: How could the NFL change the game any further to better protect the quarterback? And I think the answer is only a major change related to what the quarterback is allowed to do would make any difference.

-The quarterback would no longer be allowed to run with the ball beyond the line of scrimmage.

-The quarterback would no longer be allowed to slide.

-The quarterback would be considered down when a defender makes any kind of contact with the quarterback. Defenders are not allowed to tackle the quarterback.

-The play clock duration would include the play action of the quarterback. In other words, the offense could use the duration of the play clock for substitutions, play-calling, and for quarterback action behind the line of scrimmage. If the play clock expires before the quarterback has handed off the ball, thrown the ball, taken a knee, or has been downed by contact, the play ends.


As a result, quarterbacks who are good at scrambling would become very valuable.


I'm not necessarily advocating this change. I do think maybe eliminating the slide would do more than anything to help protect the quarterback, but it wouldn't have protected Tua.

QB's can wear dresses nowadays as it is ... Imagine playing the position before there was even a flak jacket?
Offensive linemen get away with everything. Protocols or not, Tua probably shouldnt have played thurs night. The package needs to be done away with. I havent watched a thurs night game in four years and will never do so again. I wouldnt care if the monday night game was taken away but two games per monday night will probably be in the future ...

I think all that can be done to protect a QB has been done. I wouldn't do anything to protect them any further. Every week there is disgraceful roughing the passer calls where guys are penalized for not being able to defy the laws of physics.

Offenses are so pass heavy and unbalanced, and there are so many mobile QB's...on top of that these guys are so fast and wear so little padding...of course things like this will happen

If anything the game needs to be slowed down a bit, players need to put more pads on, and offensive attacks need to become more balanced. The more you have of this sandlot stuff the more injuries you're going to get. They'll be less tackling and more catastrophic collisions. Secondary especially where you can't touch a receiver. When these guys gallop full speed unimpeded like gazelles with no pads on and collide with a tiny shoulder padded safety...of course there is going to be head contact.

If you have your QB throwing as much as they do now, and avoiding maybe less harmful sacks(or the Brady/Manning "nothing is there fetal position time), running around and then taking shots, well yea he's going to take more brutal shots

RyanChristiansen wrote:The play clock duration would include the play action of the quarterback. In other words, the offense could use the duration of the play clock for substitutions, play-calling, and for quarterback action behind the line of scrimmage. If the play clock expires before the quarterback has handed off the ball, thrown the ball, taken a knee, or has been downed by contact, the play ends.

So... 1 Mississippi, 2 Mississippi... ?

sheajets wrote:...The more you have of this sandlot stuff the more injuries you're going to get. They'll be less tackling and more catastrophic collisions. Secondary especially where you can't touch a receiver. When these guys gallop full speed unimpeded like gazelles with no pads on and collide with a tiny shoulder padded safety...of course there is going to be head contact.

FWIW, (not much) in twenty years of sandlot football we had to call an ambulance just once, for what turned out to be a separated lung lining. We had a few other serious injuries (knees, concussions, "minor" broken bones) but nothing catastrophic and we were grown men hitting as hard as we could (we played flag, with pro rules otherwise*).
We also played with NO pads or helmets and that made us very conscientious about where we stuck our heads and/or body parts.

Also, we policed ourselves.
If someone took a cheap shot or dove at someone's knees they were knocked on their butt the next play and given a warning. If they did it again they were thrown off the field and told to never come back.

Today's padding and helmets give players a false sense of security.
Steroids and year long practice/weight training create monsters whose musculature far exceeds the skeleton's ability to support said structures and the impacts they create.
And the money has created an attitude of anything for a payday.

sheajets wrote: If anything the game needs to be slowed down a bit...

This might be a good start... maybe players need to be impeded by braces... or wear weights to slow them down... like a handicapped horse...


*Full disclosure: we didn't allow blocking below the waist and fumbles were dead (so we didn't have guys diving head first after loose balls and colliding heads). I am sure both of these rules mitigated potential injuries.