Saints offensive lineman Zach Strief tells WWL's Kristian Garic that despite the outcry from fans about the new "helmet rule,” he thinks it is a rational safety measure.
“I'm never going to disagree with a rule that is designed to increase the safety of the game,” Strief said. “I think there's one overwhelming thing that's kind of been overlooked, and that's the actual reading of the rule...You cannot lead with the crown of your helmet. If you're trying to prevent running backs from lowering their head, not to protect themselves, not to lower their pads..but purely in order to make contact with the top of their head, I'm very much in support of it.”
Strief acknowledges, though, that it’s going to be a hard rule to officiate.
“I think it's going to be very tough on officials. But the rule does not say that you can't lower your head, it says you can't iniitate contact with the crown of your helmet, which is essentially the very top of your head. So it's not only going to protect running backs, it's going to protect defensive players, which I think the guys that have largely been overlooked in this push for player safety.”
#64 says he’s heard the complaints from the fans.
“I understand the arguments against it...that people are afraid that it's going to reduce the physicality of the sport. But people that feel that way, I would invite to try and get down to the field as close as you can, and see what's happening close up, and tell me it's not physical enough.”
And for fans who ask…Is it still football with all the new safety measures?
"What is football? It's a sport, it's a game. It has become our living, but it's essentially in existence for the entertainment of people. And if you don't feel like it's important to protect the safety, the well-being of the guys playing the game, then it's not a sport any more. It becomes something more extreme than that, you believe it's sort of a modern-day gladiator, a modern-day arena."
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