Plenty of NFL players have spoken out against the new rule against lowering the helmet to initiate contact, and it has even contributed to the holdout of Bears rookie linebacker Roquan Smith. But not all NFL players oppose the rule.
Raiders linebacker Tahir Whitehead said he supports the rule and doesn’t think it will stop him from being a physical player.
“It’s pretty much self-explanatory,” Whitehead told Michael Gehlken of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “You don’t lower your head to initiate contact. At the end of the day, it’s protecting the offensive guy, but most importantly, you’re protecting yourself. We’ve all seen what happened countless times last year where guys lower their head and risk not only injuring the guy on offense but exposing yourself to injury. It just makes sense. As a defensive player, you’re always taught, ‘You need to see what you hit.’ When you’re taking on a block, you don’t duck your head because you’re exposing yourself to neck injuries. That’s always the way I’ve played the game, so I don’t think it’s necessarily going to affect the way I play personally.”
Whitehead said he’s confident from looking at his own film that he already doesn’t lower his helmet to initiate contact and won’t be penalized. Whether he continues to support the rule once it’s been implemented remains to be seen, but for now he sees it as a positive step toward player safety.