NFL And Players Union Disagree On Multiple Safety Issues And It Makes No Sense

LAS VEGAS – If you think the Mike Shanahan style offense that is multiplying around the NFL or the shell defenses that plague some quarterbacks are difficult to figure out, I present to you the people that run the league and the ones who play the game.

They both want the NFL to be great.

They both want the safest game possible played on the field. 

But that is seemingly where the agreement stops. And it's downright impossible to figure out why.

NEW YORK, UNITED STATES - 2023/07/26: Executive Director NFL (National Football League) players Association Lloyd Howell speaks as striking members of Writers Guild of America picketing in front of CBS Broadcast Center on theme Sport Writers Picket. Executives from NHL Players Association, NFL Players Association, MLB Players Association joined and spoke during picket. (Photo by Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)

NFL Players Want Grass Fields

Consider: 

The NFL Players Association on Wednesday unveiled a survey of its players on their preference of playing surfaces. And union executive director Lloyd Howell said 92 percent of players prefer to play on grass over artificial turf surfaces.

"That's compelling," Howell said. "The bottom line is, it's unquestionable that our union wants to have a working condition where they play on grass."

The problem is the NFL, while constantly stating it prioritizes player safety, has been reticent to embrace a full-on grass field movement because some grass fields are less safe than their artificial counterparts, per the league.

So no agreement.

And there's curiously more where that difference of opinion came from. 

04 February 2016: Jeff Miller (NFL SVP, Health & Safety Policy) during the Health & Safety Update and Interactive Technology Showcase at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, CA. (Photo by Chris Williams/Icon Sportswire) (Photo by Chris Williams/Icon Sportswire/Corbis/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

NFL Wants Hip-Drop Tackle Out

The NFL, again wanting to prioritize player safety, has spent the past season looking for ways to define the so-called hip-drop tackle so it can then outlaw the tackling technique from use entirely. 

That attempt at elimination might happen as early as this offseason.

The hip-drop tackle happens when a defender chases down a ball carrier, grabs him about the shoulders or waist, and then drops his hips to use his dead body weight to bring down that ball carrier.

Sometimes tacklers swivel aside and simply land on the turf. Sometimes they swivel and land on the ball carrier's ankles or knees, which is the big problem. Some call the hip-drop the horse collar tackle's cousin.

"It remains from our analysis a technique that results in about a 25-times rate of injury as opposed to a typical tackle," NFL executive vice president Jeff Miller said during the past season. "It is an unforgiving behavior that we need to try to define and get out of the game."

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - DECEMBER 31: Calais Campbell #93 of the Atlanta Falcons warms up prior to the game against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field on December 31, 2023 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images)

NFLPA Defends Hip-Drop Tackle

But on Wednesday, the players who are most exposed to the apparent dangers of the hip-drop tackle defended it.

They don't want it eliminated. The NFLPA apparently doesn't want it eliminated.

"Yes, it’s about making the game safer and there are a lot of rules that were put in place over the last 10-plus years, you know, that made the game a lot safer and they were big adjustments for players," Atlanta Falcons defensive lineman Calais Campbell said. "But I felt like, with this in particular, I just don’t understand how you can police it the right way and allow us to do our job.

"How do you tackle a guy, and I grabbed him, and I’m trying to get him to the ground, you know, you kind of pull him down and I kind of fall on his legs — not on purpose, of course — that’s just a football."

And now you're thinking, of course, a defensive player would not want to eliminate a weapon from his tackling arsenal.

But Campbell was joined in defending the hip-drop by Austin Ekeler who, like Campbell, is a member of the NFLPA's executive committee.

Austin Ekeler believes he's underpaid. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)

A Running Back Good With Hip-Drop

And he's a running back – so he's one of the guys at the receiving end of the hip-drop tackle.

But he's against banning the hip-drop.

"Yeah, I think it really compromises the quality of the game on multiple levels," Ekeler said of a possible ban. "Just the officials and that you’re putting another gray area call for them. ‘Was that, or was it not?’ And then it’s a 15-yard penalty, but maybe it was, and maybe it wasn’t. And are their fines associated with it? … It’s part of football.

"Like, you’re tackling people, your body’s going to get twisted and turned all over the place and it’s because you kind of just, you lay out and you go out at full speed, both guys going with a lot of energy. So, I think it’s honestly detrimental to the game if they try to go forward with this."

So let's recap: 

The NFL wants the safest conditions possible, so it wants to get rid of the hip-drop but isn't ready to move just yet on a full-on embrace of grass fields league-wide.

The NFLPA wants the safest conditions possible, so it wants grass fields everywhere but isn't ready to agree to a ban on the hip-drop tackle. 

Hard to understand.