Mason Foster hit on Ochocinco

[AKA T.Calvin]

Pretty soon it will be flag football.

yep.

[GameTime]

Head to head contact always gets flagged. His head made contact with the WR's helmet.

except that head to head contact happens on virtually every play.

[dalbuc]

Head to head contact always gets flagged. His head made contact with the WR's helmet.

except that head to head contact happens on virtually every play.

Not vs defenseless WR's who you hit high and lead wrong. We all know that is a flag now and it is gonna be a flag. Anything happening at the head of players is gonna be verboten.

Idiots on the team or among fans who won't get that through their thick skulls are inevitable. I know it is all manly to hit guys high to some folks but unless you like 15 yard flags and big fines on your players get over it.

[alldaway]

Foster's helmet hit Ocho's, intentional or not it will be called every time.

[lazoran]

Darren Woodson today on SportsCenter said the hit was clean.

[Madman]

Clean hit. Only highlight from the first half!!

He led with the shoulder. Helmets are allowed to touch. It's football.

[bucsbum]

I slowed all the replays down by frame and reviewed the rule. The hit that Foster put on Ocho Cinco was by the rule. Foster did not launch himself he stayed on his feet. The contact came from Foster shoulder pad to Ocho's vest area under the arms. Ocho's helmet never made contact with Fosters from the hit. Ocho's right arm at all times separated the 2 players helmets. While Ocho was defenceless in the act of catching the ball the hit was clean and by the rules. I do not foresee any financial penalty coming from the NFL.

Now about the penalty. I do not believe the referees should be blamed for the wrong call on the field. The officials are put in a bad situation do to the rules. If anything the officials should scrap the instant replays on scores and have these hits called in the booth. This will allow the officials to make the right call on something that happens in a blink of an eye as well as allow the player that was hit to be examined for safety reasons as well as clear the cob webs.

There needs to be some thought of common sense. They made a very technical rule with no chance for the officials to enforce it on the field. No way can the officials make that call on the field with something that happens that fast with so much technicality involved

[NotDeadYet]

    Exactly as I saw it on re-broadcast last night, 'bucsbum'!! It looked like Foster led with his forearms and extended them on contact UNDER the ball as Ochocinco cradled it briefly under his chin/neck area. The force of Foster's momentum and forearm extension drove Ochocinco's arms and the ball up into his face, causing Ochocinco's head to snap back AS IF it had been hit. Slowed down, I never saw any helmet to helmet contact.
     I also agree BY THE RULE, the ref's are placed in an impossible situation to make a "correct" call on these bang-bang plays. I understand they are to throw the flag even if they just 'think' there was head-to-head contact. Absolutely HATE that; ref's shouldn't be calling things they don't actually see.
    The very last part of the last sentence of the rule posted ( 3 h ) is the 'kicker'; ....EVEN IF INITIAL CONTACT WAS BELOW THE NECK. But then, Foster was RUNNING; he never actually LAUNCHED himself! Again, the ref has to interpret the difference between 'launching' and plain old 'running'.

[NotDeadYet]

     And using instant replay on plays like this is absolutely needed. Telling the ref's to throw the flag every time they see a players head snapping back and just THINK there was contact to the head is gonna ruin the game. Just like in basketball, these NFL guys are real good actors too...

[threadkiller]

     And using instant replay on plays like this is absolutely needed. Telling the ref's to throw the flag every time they see a players head snapping back and just THINK there was contact to the head is gonna ruin the game. Just like in basketball, these NFL guys are real good actors too...

We don't need more replays.  It's already getting more and more difficult for me to watch a game live (and God bless all you who watch these things at the stadium now).  We need to reverse the trend of flagging anything close and go back to only the most obvious/heinous of these plays.  It is obvious to anyone who watches football that Foster's hit was not dirty (and that was clear real time), and dirty hits should be the only hits where a flag is even thought of.  If the league wants to legislate hitting out of the game, do it after the fact from the player's pocket book.  I think some of the fines last year were stupid, but at least a fine doesn't directly impact the game on Sunday.  Changing player behavior (if that is really the intent) will also be done much faster through the bank account then the flag, and that way the league is not negatively impacting the product on the field. 

[NotDeadYet]

    Good point, 'tk'. I'd be happy with the ref's just calling what they actually SAW, as opposed to [what they are basically guessing at] what they think happened. Reviewing after the game and fining the player, even the team, definitely is a stronger deterent.