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ESPN Analysts Furiously Debate Hard Hits: “It’s A Part Of The Game!”

If you were somehow able to make it through the Monday night snoozefest that was Jaguars/Titans (oh, Maurice Jones-Drew, how you failed me in fantasy football), you were rewarded with a surprisingly informative and compelling debate about the NFL’s new rules regarding “devastating hits.”

Matt Millen played the role of protector of the old-school, angrily bemoaning the fact that “non-football… people” were changing the game. Steve Young blamed the lack of talented quarterbacks for leading their receivers into situations wherein they get blown up. And baldheaded oracle Trent Dilfer blamed the complexity of newfangled defensive schemes for receivers getting JACKED… UP.

So who is right? All of them. Millen should feel somewhat threatened by the fact that the NFL is “legislating danger” out of the game. Part of what makes the stakes so high in the league is the omnipresent threat of someone being violently hurt, and while I don’t think the average NFL fan is a bloodthirsty Roman rooting for someone to be concussed, I think the fact that it could happen is compelling to a lot of people.

Steve Young and Trent Dilfer are right in saying that today’s quarterbacks are making some incredibly dumb reads, and leading receivers with throws that open them up to defenders who have the drop on them from 10 yards out.

Imagine running full speed, but facing someone that is essentially behind you. You are the receiver. Now imagine someone else is also running full speed at you, from outside your peripheral vision, and hits you as hard as they can. That is the defender. The quarterback is the one who is most responsible for making sure you’re not being led into a trap – a 6 foot 2′, 235 pound trap that wants to hurt you.

“They’re asking guys not to play as ferocious,” Young said. “That’s it.”

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