There’s growing debate in the NFL this season about whether the league should disallow the hip-drop tackle.
That type of tackle has led to a number of injuries across the league this year, most recently to New England Patriots running back Rhamondre Stevenson. In this past Sunday’s game, Stevenson was pulled down by Los Angeles Chargers linebacker Tuli Tuipulotu, who dropped his weight down and fell on top of Stevenson’s leg to cause the injury. Stevenson suffered a high ankle sprain on the play and is expected to be sidelined for a few weeks.
And after watching a video of the play take place, Cam Newton knows what side of the argument he stands on: The 2015 NFL MVP wants the league to outlaw the hip-drop tackle.
“We’re not teaching the art of tackling anymore, where head up, run through your feet and get him down,” Newton said on his “4th & 1” podcast. “The hip-drop is they tackle and then they just sit down. Like, you can get your legs caught up under that sit and that’s where the hip injuries, the leg injures, all these injuries happen. There’s certain parameters where you can avoid, but that situation right there, we’re talking about player safety.”
Newton didn’t stop there, continuing to sound off on the topic and believing that the inherit violence of the sport isn’t a good reason to keep the hip-drop tackle legal.
“And then people are going to say, ‘It’s football. We need to keep football football. Don’t play football then,'” Newton said. “But that’s still not to say we can’t keep it safe. Like, you can’t hit the dude in the back of the head even though ya’ll say ya’ll boxing. You have safety measures to keep players safe. And as a fan and just observant of this sport, it’s disgusting.”
Not everybody agrees with Newton, and that includes two members of the Patriots. David Andrews and Jabrill Peppers voiced their opinion on the matter following the 6-0 loss to the Chargers and despite Stevenson going down with an injury, they both don’t want to see the hit banned.
The debate likely will continue on and pick up more steam the next time a player gets injured on a hip-drop tackle.
