Ray Anderson to talk about new rules at 9:30 a.m. ET

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal on October 19, 2010, 8:55 AM EDT

NFL V.P. of football operations Ray Anderson, the man at the center of the league’s efforts to respond to a weekend of big hits with helmets used as weapons, will appear on ESPN Radio at 9:30 a.m. ET to discuss the situation.

You can hear the segment on your local terrestrial ESPN Radio affiliate, on Sirius XM Radio, at espnradio.com, or on ESPN2.  (And after the interview you may return to enjoying any of the various NBC networks.)

We’re developing some more thoughts on this issue, but we’ll wait to hear what Anderson has to say before articulating them.

For now, we’ll say this — the league should focus these new efforts only on situations in which the helmet is used as a weapon, against any part of an opponent’s body.  This applies to defensive players and offensive players, such as Vikings running back Adrian Peterson when he drops his head as a battering ram against defensive backs.

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20 responses to “Ray Anderson to talk about new rules at 9:30 a.m. ET”

  2. Typical stupid over-reaction by the league. Yeah, this will stop head injuries. More than half the time a guy gets a concussion (see David Garrard) its because his head hits the ground on a clean play, or he gets a knee to the head on a clean play. The outright dirty stuff is already being punished via fine (I think Branden Merriweather’s wallet will be lighter this week). This is a complete over-reaction. Garbage.

  3. Lawyers will always find new things to regulate. They have no problem making up the rules and punishments as they go along. And, they have no problem being arbitrary or substituting their own judgment for the principals. Look at America if you want to understand what can happen when they are given a free hand.
    If the NFL isn’t careful it will got he way of the NHL and boxing. There’s a reason MMA sells out arenas and title boxing matches no longer even sell out small venues. It won’t happen overnight but it will slowly lose popularity leaving people to wonder what happened to the once dominant sport.

  5. I think its kind of funny how people who know nothing about the game of football are crying for rule changes.
    Running backs HAVE to lower their heads at incoming defenders, you have to keep a low center of gravity.

  6. Nobody wants to see any of the players get hurt, small injury or long term injury.
    With all of the new rules, to protect players, the NFL is heading down a path of losing fans. You are creating a league that is going to get players hurt because they are afraid to tackle in fear of getting fined. You might as well put flag football rules in place.
    And the owners want an 18 game schedule. The fans don’t want 18 games, the fans don’t want to pay full price for scrimmage games.

  8. Welcome to the NBA. Sure some of these hits look like cheap shots and are easy to call out and fine/suspend. Many of the others are not and will result in players being suspended for questionable calls. It’s almost like in the NBA when the suspend players for stepping onto the court if there is a fight.
    Seriously, there’s all this talk of player safety yet I bet 90% of the players are against this rule. Again, the NFL is falling into the same trap the government has falling into over the past 30 years trying to help people who really don’t want it.

  9. Wow NBC and the NFL are going to ruin football. Good job guys. All the guys who were never tough enough to play football are whining that we could get hurt. Players know what they are getting into.

  11. Has Ray Anderson ever played a snap of competitive football ever? High school does not count. The answer to that question should give you all the information you need to determine whether his input should be considered.

  12. So basically it has come a point in time where we need to put flags on the players and call it what it really is…. Flag Football. Seriously, Football is a gladiator sport. You can sugar coat it all you want but its 11 guys on one side trying to punish the 11 guys on the other side and vice versa.
    I have heard arguments that if the NFL doesn’t change kids won’t be allowed to play. Fine, here is an arguement, keep making the game into Flag Football and watch all the billions of dollar revenue dry up. I know I won’t watch. But you will say, well what is gonna take it down. Most people will say something like Baseball will bounce back or the NBA, or Hockey. Nope, these sports won’t but you know the sport that will. Soccer. Laugh, but soccer is becoming more and more popular and more and more kids are playing this sport.

  13. What made football overtake baseball as the number one sport nearly 50 years ago was its physicality. Now with the lockout looming, things are going to get ugly for the NFL. Looks like these 5 plus years of prosperity will come to an end.

  14. I think this thing is gonna become a problem for the NFL. The direction they seem to be taking with this is ridiculous. To eject or suspend some one for a “devastating hit” that is legal would be an atrocity. They should just enforce the helmet to helmet or make the strike zone from the chest on down.
    The media is to blame for most of this. They have taken this to an entirely new level. Collinsworth and Harrison talking about the big hits this weekend and never did they discuss the fact that they were all legal. I keep hearing about penalizing players that lead with their head, your head is on your shoulders so how can one hit someone with there shoulder pads and not lead with their head?
    Lets not forget that this all happens in tenths of a second. A DB that weights 190lb DB who has to tackle WR’s that weight 230 like Marshall and Johnson or 260 lb TE’s doesn’t have the luxury of tackling nicely or they get brushed off like flies. They have to bring everything they have in order to get those big guys down. Do you think in the time the play in the eagles game happened that Daunta Robinson knew he was about to hit a guy that weights 160lbs?
    And to the idea that offensive players can’t lowering their heads, that’s ridiculous. How else would they be able to absorb hits or break tackles? RB’s would have about a 3 yr shelf life in the NFL if that was the case. That’s one of the knocks that has guys falling in the draft every year, “He runs to straight up and will be prone to injuries” . How many times have we heard that.
    Enough of my rambling. enforce the rule from a couple years ago about helmet to helmet and leave the rest alone.

  15. Give it to a former crap college football player turned player agent and lawyer to want to help take away part of the game that makes so many people watch it

  16. Make it so the players can’t run full speed either. A light jog is safer. Oh! And maybe ban them from working out? Castration might help too.

  17. The problem can be stopped by simply by PENALIZING ALL INTENTIONAL HITS TO THE HEAD, whether with arms or helmets. The Head & Helmet is simply OFF-LIMITS and the concussion problem will be 90% over. What about offensive players lowering their heads? The difference is they aren’t aiming for anyone else’s head and aren’t likely to hit anyone in their head. And the defensive player have time and can see them coming. I totally AGREE with the NFL’s actions and the NFL must step in or Congress definitely will.
    By my count, 5 players were carted off the field this past week in NFL games. This works out to 80 concussed players per season, or almost 4 full 22 man TEAMS.

  18. Fines do absolutely nothing to solve the problem. Last time, I checked the American public tuned in to football games to see exciting plays. We do not watch football games thinking, “Geez, I hope there’s a really exciting dirty hit from James Harrison which gives someone a concussion!!!” Is football really so uncivilized that you can put a life threatening hit on someone and walk away with a $5,000 fine? The NFL should just adapt the rules that soccer uses – if you are found guilty of a flagrant late hit, you are sent off and have to miss the next game.

  19. Fines do absolutely nothing to solve the problem. Last time, I checked the American public tuned in to football games to see exciting plays. We do not watch football games thinking, “Geez, I hope there’s a really exciting dirty hit from James Harrison which gives someone a concussion!!!” Is football really so uncivilized that you can put a life threatening hit on someone and walk away with a $5,000 fine? The NFL should just adapt the rules that soccer uses – if you are found guilty of a flagrant late hit, you are sent off and have to miss the next game.

  20. Fines do absolutely nothing to solve the problem. Last time, I checked the American public tuned in to football games to see exciting plays. We do not watch football games thinking, “Geez, I hope there’s a really exciting dirty hit from James Harrison which gives someone a concussion!!!” Is football really so uncivilized that you can put a life threatening hit on someone and walk away with a $5,000 fine? The NFL should just adapt the rules that soccer uses – if you are found guilty of a flagrant late hit, you are sent off and have to miss the next game.

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