NFL to consider suspensions for violent hits
The high number of concussions may lead to more severe action to curb nasty hits.
NEW YORK - Aiming for the head or leading with the helmet to deliver a blow could soon cost NFL players game time as well as money.
The league is considering suspending players for illegal hits in an effort to help prevent serious injuries, NFL executive vice president of football operations Ray Anderson said Monday, one day after several scary collisions in games.
"Going forward there are certain hits that occurred that will be more susceptible to suspension," he said. "There are some that could bring suspensions for what are flagrant and egregious situations."
Anderson, a member of the league's competition committee and one of its loudest voices on the need for enhanced player safety, said the NFL could make changes in its approach immediately, with commissioner Roger Goodell having the final say. League officials would consult with the players' union, but he didn't expect any opposition.
Anderson wouldn't speculate on how many players would be punished for hits from Sunday's games.
The Eagles' DeSean Jackson and the Falcons' Dunta Robinson were knocked out of their game after a frightening collision in which Robinson launched himself head first. Both sustained concussions.
Ravens tight end Todd Heap took a vicious hit from Patriots safety Brandon Meriweather that Heap called "one of those hits that shouldn't happen." The team was in contact with the league about the tackle.
Steelers linebacker James Harrison sidelined two Browns players with head injuries after jarring hits. An NFL spokesman said one of the tackles, on Joshua Cribbs, was legal. The Browns were more upset about Harrison's hit on Mohamed Massaquoi, which the league is reviewing.
"If it is not getting the message out, I don't know how to do it," Dr. Hunt Batjer, cochairman for the NFL's Brain, Head and Neck Medical Committee, has said of the league's emphasis on eliminating helmet hits. "It has been broadcast at every level not to lead with your head. In the heat of battle, things are going to happen. But they just have to be a minimum."