[winflop]

This is a ridiculous response.  My first thought was "how many more players are going to be concussed by helmet to helmet hits?"  This "ruling" opens the floodgates, and my second thought was it's only a matter of time before the conference is sued.

I don't care what part of the helmet is used.  If you LAUNCH yourself at a player - defenseless or otherwise - and ANY part of your helmet hits their helmet before any other contact, that is a 15-yard penalty at a minimum.  Goodman did this at least THREE TIMES in that game and was never even flagged much less tossed.

The part that really irks me is the conference's statement about how important player safety is.  What a complete load of BS.  How anyone can say that with a straight face is beyond me.  Here's my email to Coleman & Hirsch:


Dear Mr. Coleman & Mr. Hirsch,

I can’t tell you how disappointed and, frankly disgusted, I am with the Pac-12’s decision regarding the multiple helmet-to-helmet hits that Stanford football players Francis Owusu, Dalton Schultz, and Ryan Burns took from UCLA football player Tahaan Goodman in Saturday’s game.  In all three cases, not only was there helmet-to-helmet contact above Goodman’s facemask, but in all three cases Goodman LAUNCHED himself at the player.  Goodman also attempted to make similar hits on Bryce Love and Cameron Scarlett.  Fortunately he was not as successful in those attempts.

What bothers me more than anything else is your statement “The Pac-12 Conference holds student-athlete health and safety in the highest regard.”  I have trouble understanding how you can say that with a straight face.  You have just opened up a Pandora’s Box of defensive players who are going to look at what Goodman did and determine that this is legal in the Pac-12.  How many more players will be concussed because of that?  How many more will be knocked unconscious?

The Pac-12 already has a horrible reputation in college football for poor officiating.  You did yourselves no favors by stating that your training emphasis prior to this season was on uniform violations.  Your abject failure to not only properly enforce the rules against a player who was CLEARLY out to hurt his opponents, but also to punish the officials who failed to gain control of the situation, shows me that the problem not only persists but is getting worse not better.  I strongly suggest you get your officials re-trained first and foremost on protecting player health and safety – clearly this is sorely lacking.

I hope you can fix the rules before next season, but there are still two months of games this year where player health and safety risks are now elevated as a result of your inexplicable decision.  This required IMMEDIATE action to protect the safety of players on both sides of the ball, and the Pac-12 punted.

[winflop]

This is a ridiculous response.  My first thought was "how many more players are going to be concussed by helmet to helmet hits?"  This "ruling" opens the floodgates, and my second thought was it's only a matter of time before the conference is sued.

I don't care what part of the helmet is used.  If you LAUNCH yourself at a player - defenseless or otherwise - and ANY part of your helmet hits their helmet before any other contact, that is a 15-yard penalty at a minimum.  Goodman did this at least THREE TIMES in that game and was never even flagged much less tossed.

The part that really irks me is the conference's statement about how important player safety is.  What a complete load of BS.  How anyone can say that with a straight face is beyond me.  Here's my email to Coleman & Hirsch:


Dear Mr. Coleman & Mr. Hirsch,

I can’t tell you how disappointed and, frankly disgusted, I am with the Pac-12’s decision regarding the multiple helmet-to-helmet hits that Stanford football players Francis Owusu, Dalton Schultz, and Ryan Burns took from UCLA football player Tahaan Goodman in Saturday’s game.  In all three cases, not only was there helmet-to-helmet contact above Goodman’s facemask, but in all three cases Goodman LAUNCHED himself at the player.  Goodman also attempted to make similar hits on Bryce Love and Cameron Scarlett.  Fortunately he was not as successful in those attempts.

What bothers me more than anything else is your statement “The Pac-12 Conference holds student-athlete health and safety in the highest regard.”  I have trouble understanding how you can say that with a straight face.  You have just opened up a Pandora’s Box of defensive players who are going to look at what Goodman did and determine that this is legal in the Pac-12.  How many more players will be concussed because of that?  How many more will be knocked unconscious?

The Pac-12 already has a horrible reputation in college football for poor officiating.  You did yourselves no favors by stating that your training emphasis prior to this season was on uniform violations.  Your abject failure to not only properly enforce the rules against a player who was CLEARLY out to hurt his opponents, but also to punish the officials who failed to gain control of the situation, shows me that the problem not only persists but is getting worse not better.  I strongly suggest you get your officials re-trained first and foremost on protecting player health and safety – clearly this is sorely lacking.

I hope you can fix the rules before next season, but there are still two months of games this year where player health and safety risks are now elevated as a result of your inexplicable decision.  This required IMMEDIATE action to protect the safety of players on both sides of the ball, and the Pac-12 punted.