In my 8 or so years of playing football I’ve often heard coaches liken the job of the linemen to that of a soldier fighting in a trench, pushing, attacking, and struggling for every inch of the battlefield that is the line of scrimmage. Of course, the job of a lineman is far less dramatic and glorious than that description makes it out to be, most of our job is just keeping the defense at bay so the quarterback and the rest of the backfield has time to get a play off. Unfortunately for us offensive linemen, the defense has a much larger bag of tricks when it comes to the actual clash, they can grab, pull, or simply spin by while the O-line is relegated mostly to pushing with shoulder and hand. This can make things difficult if, for instance …show more content…
the play requires me to block a defensive lineman who is moving away from my position, I’m going to have difficulty getting in front of him to keep him from rushing through the line. So instead of just hitting my guy from the side and hoping I can push him away from the hole and the play, I would ideally perform a “cut block” to stop my opponent. And here is where my dilemma started, a cut block essentially consists of diving to the ground in front of an opposing lineman in an attempt to trip them up and make them cautious of rushing forward, it’s not technically “going for the knees” but it’s close enough. For the first half of the season my line coach told me I needed to cut block if I wanted to stay on the starting line, he kept on my back about it throughout the season until I finally told him that I wasn’t going to. Coach dropped the issue soon after that. I caught a decent amount of flack from the other linemen about the situation, their arguments ranged from “you’re hurting the team by not doing your part” to “it’s really not that bad, just do it once so coach will shut up about it in practice”.
All of their arguments made sense, after all we were playing Football, a sport that relies heavily upon hitting the other guy as best as one can, so it makes sense to use any legal (or sometimes illegal) maneuver at your disposal. But, being the stubborn guy that I am, I ignored my teammates and continued on with my self-important crusade against cut blocking, even after being told I would be replaced on the starting team. My rationale was twofold: 1) I didn’t want to seriously injure an opponent (they were just other high school football players after all) and I didn’t want to get myself injured, seeing as throwing yourself on the ground in front of a 200-300 pound lineman is a very good way of getting kicked in the stomach or having your hands stomped on. Of course, to truly examine this moral dilemma we have to strip away all this extra stuff and get down to the true center of this issue, is it ok to perform an action on an opposing player that has the potential to cause significant injury to both parties, even if it ultimately benefits one’s own
team? Now, there are four other players on the line with me, that means that they all had to make this decision to some degree. A couple we also not fans of cutting, but most of the line had no problems with it. I’m going to use two of my teammates as examples of alternate solutions to this dilemma. Let's call them A and B. Teammate A had similar ideas when it came to the morals of cut-blocking, he wasn’t really a fan of it, but he didn’t feel like making a big deal about it. So instead of outright refusing to cut, A simply did it a couple of times to keep our coach off his back. While I don’t begrudge A for choosing the easy way out I personally don’t think that anyone should go against what they believe is right to appease an outside power, even if what they think is right is no big deal. Teammate B on the other hand, had no problem with cutting, he did it frequently in game and nobody ever got hurt because of it. While I don’t agree with B’s opinion on the subject, I can see where he was coming from, cut-blocking is a legal move after all and it benefits the team as a whole. Then of course there was my method of outright refusal. I would say that all of these approaches are viable and that it really depends on what one’s opinion on the issue is and how big of deal they are willing to make of it. Looking back on the situation and they diffrent ways I could have handled it, I do believe that I will stick with my decision of refusing to cut-block under any circumstances. I do not agree with the fundamental idea of cutting as I think it is a deliberate attempt to intimidate an opponent by attacking a part of the body that is notorious for chronic injuries in football players. Some might view this as a non-conflict, they might think that I am being petty and deliberately argumentative for refusing to perform an action that is not only legal within the sport of Football, but also very common for most players. But I do not believe in compromising my own morals to appease an authority figure who as commanded me to perform an unjust action, no matter how small it may be.
Playing football comes with several risks factors that players’ acknowledge prior to playing the game starting a young age. Regardless, these players still chose to play the game, which they end up loving and cherishing despite all the risks accompanied with it. Football is one of the toughest sports in the world; it takes a certain amount of strength, speed, and aggressiveness to play 48 minutes of hard-nosed football. However, the National Football League (NFL) is in the midst of a controversial issue. Is the NFL getting soft? This has been a debatable issue for several years. While some believe that implementing all these rules in the NFL is progressively turning the game soft, others say that the NFL is not getting soft; it is just trying to make the game safer for its players.
NFL teams are practicing lightly so far this year, training camp is multiple weeks away, and the first preseason game isn't going to be played for months. The new defense has not been completely installed yet and neither has the new offense. We do not know whether the special teams unit will be as effective as it has been the past several seasons because Chip Kelly's practice schedule is no longer in place to provide extra reps and the overall depth chart isn't even being considered at this point because players are currently sporting shorts and t-shirts on the field.
Mascots are beloved figure heads for sports teams everywhere almost every sport team has a mascot of some kind; that said, sometimes instead of bring people together it can cause a rift between two cultures. Such as Washington’s D.C.’s football team the “Redskins” often the word redskin was a derogatory word used against the Native Americans and while it may seem as though paying homage to the Native American community the overall stereotyped actions of the fans themselves as well as the sugarcoating of the previously racial slur has done little to bring the two cultures together and instead created a larger disconnect between white and Native American. The name Redskin should be retired and replaced so that rather
Consequently, football accounts for more major and catastrophic injuries than any other sport. One story that grasped my attention was an ESPN segment on Outside the Lines, where stories range from sports and controversy issues off the field. The topic was Football at a Crossroads, which emphasized that children should not play tackle football until the age of 16. According to a USA Today article, “on November 6, 2011, Donnovan Hill was thirteen at the time of his injury as a member of the Lakewood (California) Black Lancers, a Pop Warner group” (Mihoces, 2013). When Donnovan Hill tackled his opponent, he dropped his head down, kept his arm at his side and initiated the tackle head first. This maneuver was executed improperly, which led to a catastrophic spinal cord injury. Unfortunately, due to his spinal cord injury, Donnovan Hill became a quadriplegic. According to a website article, “sadly, on May 11, 2016, Donnovan Hill, died at the age of 18 after complications from surgery related to the management of his injury” (Farrey,
What event brings a crowd to a mega sized event that roars louder than a concert? How this phenomena became one of the most popular sports that involves numerous amount of physicality? To answer both questions only requires two words.
Hitting players head to head cause way too many life threatening injuries for both opponents. On Bill Brink’s "Tackling the Issue of 'proper' Tackling," Robert Cantu was quoted saying, “football teams should practice without helmets.” That would be the best way to teach players to avoid head-to-head collisions, avoiding life threatening injuries(Brink). The problem coaches have with that is they think there players will develop bad tackling habits. But Cantu, argues that tackling isn’t all physical it’s a lot of mental toughness and muscle memory. The head to head collisions don’t just come from tackling, it also comes from blocking, blind siding, and pancaking. On Bill Brink’s "Tackling the Issue of '...
When looking for an argumentative visual I wanted to do something over a topic that was one day going to relate to me. So I chose the topic of young male children playing tackle football. In this PBS Learning Media documentary, a group of doctors persuasively discuss the effects of allowing a male child under the age of fourteen to play tackle football and the head injuries it can cause as well as the later effective of their growth they can encounter if a hard blow to the head was the happen. The documentaries argument clearly stated that allowing your children to play tackle before the age of fourteen is dangerous and should be avoided for the child 's safety. The film also successfully utilized many rhetorical appeals that convinces parents to reconsider their idea of allowing their son to participate in tackle football. The first rhetorical appeal used in the film was pathos, it was a video clip of a child on the ground hurt because of a hard hit to the head. Another rhetorical appeal used was logos when they interviewed doctors from highly respected fields to state their factual
Football is not a dangerous sport for high schoolers to be playing. It is played to show others what great team work is all about. Football will always have hard hitting and injuries involved. But it is a great way to get into a good college. Great warm-up exercises before a game are great way to be ready for the game.
Personally, I have experienced my own concussion, so I very well understand from the player’s point of view as to why they do not want to stop. It is honestly the worst thing to sit out and have to watch your teammates and others do something that you love, and you can not do anything about it because then you risk injuring yourself more. It is like having the thing that you love the very most being dangled in front of you but you are tied down to a chair and you can not move, it is agonizing probably worse than the injury that they are healing from. The feeling that you could be helping your team, helping yourself get better at your craft, but you can not is hurtful, depressing almost.
Contact sports in America, like football and boxing, carry a rich history of the spirit of the game, and the feeling of victory. These games bring us together as we cry out and cheer for our team or fighter as they deliver the winning touchdown, or the knockout that brings them the undisputed champion belt. However, these players are facing injuries that can destroy their career and affect their brain for the rest of their lives. We shouldn’t outlaw contact sports, but we should force safety to become more important. If we want to keep our players safe and continue the tradition of the contact sports we enjoy as a country, then we must evolve our safety in sports, and change the way we view contact sports as a country.
The market is open for free agents to sign with teams on March 9th at 4pm. With many teams already locking up players through verbal agreements, the shopping list for the Cowboys has decreased. However the Cowboys still have potential to be a major player in free agency. With 12 million in cap space already and the potential to create 48 million the Cowboys can make moves. The question is how many moves will be made?
The rule states that “No player shall target and initiate contact against an opponent with the crown of his helmet.” If a player breaks this rule they are ejected from the game. The NFL also says that players can't jump off the ground to hit another player in the head. Another rule change is that “during field goal and extra-point attempts, the defense cannot position any player on the line directly across from the snapper.”(“New NFL Rules Designed to Limit Head Injuries”). This rule applies to defenseless players, which are receivers, quarterbacks, stopped ball carriers, kick returners, kickers, and people obviously out of the play (Redding,
The linebacker has to not only make big tackles but also has to know where everyone else should be on the field. One simple mistake, no matter whether mental or physical, can cause the player to be in the wrong spot. If the linebacker is not in the proper position this will give the offense a better chance at scoring. The discipline not to guess and to truly understand the game requires great practice. With plenty of keys to stick to, the linebacker cannot afford to have any false moves. Although the eyes of a linebacker should be on the ball carrier, there are other things they have to look for. For example, the linebacker has to be the first to detect whether the offense will run or pass. In the situation that the offense is running the ball, the linebacker has to be sure to stop the runner in his or her tracks, allowing a minimum amount of yards as
The play was "Red 334"which is a run to our halfback, me, out of our dive series. I crouched over the ball as I jetted past the quarterback and ran the play so we could observe the changes we needed to make. I let out a sigh of relief because we were finished with the most dreaded part of practice; well, only until someone complained about not knowing their job on one of our pass plays. Coach Nelson undoubtedly decided we needed to run through the final pass play before we perfected our defense. The play was quietly called in the huddle with intentions of getting it right. I ran the play through my mind while I tried to remember what the snap count was and what I was supposed to do for that play. The ball was snapped and I jolted to the left of our team's quarterback to set up his backside protection. Out of my peripheral vision, I noticed the defensive end raging toward the quarterback. I intensely stepped into him while lowering my body and exploded through his shoulder pads sending him stumbling into the line's pass protection.
Are high school sports beneficial or not for students? I personally believe if a student is in a high school sport they’re forced to prioritize between school and their sport, and at a young age I believe the student would decide to use his time to improve in his sport instead of school. Which in the long run would affect his academics, unless they decide to stay up late and work on their homework to keep up with both school and their sport. But, even like that in time the lack of sleep would catch up to them, and cause them to do even worse in both academics, and sports. High school sports are like the lotto in my opinion, many play but only a few get rewarded for their work. Therefore, high school sports cause more negativity than positivity.