Tom Brady Advocates for Rule Changes to Protect Knees of Defenseless ReceiversBy Matt Fitzgerald Dec 2, 2015
Steven Senne/Associated Press Having torn his ACL and MCL in September 2008, New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady knows firsthand how devastating hits to the knee can be for an NFL player.Brady spoke out Wednesday and suggested wide receivers around the league should have similar protection against low hits, which he believes ought to be outlawed, per CSNNE.com's Tom E. Curran:I do think they should change some of those rules with defenseless receivers. I don't think there's anything different from a chop block. Everyone else has their legs protected in the NFL. Quarterbacks get their legs protected. Defensive linemen get their legs protected. Linebackers get their legs protected. I don't see why a defenseless receiver shouldn't get his legs protected either. Maybe that's something they'll look at in the offseason.Patriots star tight end Rob Gronkowski suffered a bone bruise in his right knee in Week 12's road loss to the Denver Broncos on Sunday. It was the same knee Gronkowski tore an ACL and MCL in during the 2013 campaign on a low hit from then-Cleveland Browns safety T.J. Ward.At the time of Gronkowski's 2013 injury, Ward indicated he made the decision to go low on Gronk because he feared a fine or suspension for hitting him high.Discourse on player-safety issues is as rampant as any time in NFL history. What Brady suggested doesn't seem outlandish when comparing receivers to other positions, yet the aforementioned dilemma Ward faced calls into question how the NFL could implement such adjustments to the rules.Form tackling is preached at every level of football, but the speed of the pro game lends itself to violent collisions and players putting themselves in harm's way in spite of their best intentions and supreme athletic ability.As Brady mentioned, quarterbacks have gotten their legs protected more in recent years, largely because of the major injuries suffered by Carson Palmer in January 2006 and the Patriots signal-caller's own blown-out knee. That hasn't stopped players like Sam Bradford from tearing an ACL twice in less than a year—and Palmer suffered a torn ACL again during the 2014 campaign.More salient to this season for Brady and New England was pass-catching scatback Dion Lewis' torn ACL, which robbed the Pats of a special offensive weapon.Receivers are especially tricky to tweak the rules for because they have the cleanest release of any skill-position players to run at full speed. Defensive backs have plenty of room to roam, often leading to violent collisions where caution and form are secondary priorities.It wouldn't be a surprise to see the NFL at least examine Brady's proposed rule changes, but too many penalty flags for low tackles would threaten to diminish the on-field product.link
