I agree with swearinger saying the league wants you to go low, but swearinger is passing the buck. If he went low because the league told him so, he's a coward If he went low to make a tackle, then ok. However I dont think it was a cheap shot at all. He didn't hit him in the head, he didn't lead with the helmet he used his shoulder pad. Keller is much bigger and so he went low to take him down. These sorts of things happen in a contact sport.

Except the league doesn't want you to go. It is supposed to be a penalty if you attack a guy's knee (and not just the quarterback). They want you to hit a guy in the chest.

He did not make that tackle with intent to injure. This is the NFL , this sort of stuff happens. Like they were saying on the radio (even locally) it was a bang , bang play. Let them look into the rules , they made them , its their bed. This wont be the last time something like this happens.

"I was making a hit playing football. In this league, you've got to go low. If you go high, you're going to get a fine," ............. "I'm sorry that happened. I would think you'd rather have more concussions than leg injuries. Leg injury, you can't come back from that. A concussion, you be back in a couple of weeks."

He flat out said he purposely went low because of league rules, kinda messed up to say it the way he did. But he did, and he acknowledged that the injury could happen.....

I actually thought it was just an unlucky play, even thought he lost his footing making the cut which caused him to be lower than he intended. However he clears that up here, he intended to be low.....

Not a cheap shot, but there was a different way to go.

Are we forgetting people have torsos? It's located between the head and the knees.

I don't think he intended to injure Keller but the guy has his back turned and you put a helmet on his knee? Does it take a rocket scientist to figure out that isn't going to be a good outcome? Like Hartline said, there's no place for this in the NFL and I agree. He could've also hit him around the waist area or mid thigh, then wrapped then made a tackle. BTW, whoever said he wasn't leading with the crown needs to go take another look.

It seems like all this could be avoided if proper tackling were addressed.

C'mon... that's the ultimate biatch play going for a guys knee... i know he's trying to make a play, but Keller literally wasn't even looking at him... he could have drilled him in the side and easily made the same impact.

Are we forgetting people have torsos? It's located between the head and the knees.

I think you guys are forgetting the type of play. This is a lot like linemen on a kickoff who are looking to block guys...submarine them and its a penalty...ask yourself why. The flat pass is the same sort of play. One guy has a full head of steam and the other is a sitting duck. You see guys tackle through guys on plays like this trying to jar the ball loose. That's what should've happened here. Again, it doesn't take a mensa candidate to know that you go low on a big guy you could end his career. He CHOSE to go low.

Except that many defensive coordinators are teaching players, especially DBs to go low against bigger guys. There is a 40-50 lbs difference between Swearinger and Keller. If Adrian Peterson is running right at you, you do not go high or into his torso and try to stand him up, you try to submarine him, get him off his feet.

Where in the rules does it state that going low on a tackle is a penalty? Defensive backs are being coached to go low on bigger players.

I agree... but I think in this instance it wasn't at all necessary.

UNNECESSARY ROUGHNESS
Article 8
There shall be no unnecessary roughness. This shall
include, but will not be limited to: ...

( j )
if a player illegally launches into a defenseless opponent. It is an illegal launch if a player (1) leaves both feet prior to contact to spring forward and upward into his opponent, and (2) uses any part of his helmet (including the top/crown and forehead/”hairline” parts) to initiate forcible contact against any part of his opponent’s body. Note: This does not apply to contact against a runner, unless the runner is still considered to be a defenseless player, as defined in Rule 12, Section 2, Article 9.
Penalty: For unnecessary roughness: Loss of 15 yards.

...

Penalty: For unnecessary roughness: Loss of 15 yards.
The player may be disqualified if the action is judged by the official(s) to be flagrant. Note: If in doubt about a roughness call or potentially dangerous tactics, the covering official(s) should always call unnecessary roughness.
A.R. 12.17
Third-and-20 on A30. Runner A1 runs to the A33, where he is tackled by B1, who hooks his fingers under the front of the runner’s helmet, but not his facemask, and forcibly twists his head.
Ruling: 15 yards for unnecessary roughness. It is an automatic first down. A’s ball first-and-10 on A48.
Article 9
It is a foul if a player initiates unnecessary contact against a player who is in a defenseless posture.
(a)
Players in a defenseless posture are:
OFFICIAL NFL PLAYING RULES 73

(1)
A player in the act of or just after throwing a pass;
(2)
A receiver attempting to catch a pass; or who has completed a catch and has not had time to
protect himself or has not clearly become a runner. If the receiver/runner is capable of avoiding or
warding off the impending contact of an opponent, he is no longer a defenseless player;
(3)
A runner already in the grasp of a tackler and whose forward progress has been stopped;
(4)
A kickoff or punt returner attempting to field a kick in the air;
(5)
A player on the ground at the end of a play;
(6)
A kicker/punter during the kick or during the return;
(7)
A quarterback at any time after a change of possession, and
(8)
A player who receives a “blindside” block when the blocker is moving toward his own endline and
approaches the opponent from behind or from the side.
(b)
Prohibited contact against a player who is in a defenseless posture is:
(1)
Forcibly hitting the defenseless player’s head or neck area with the helmet, facemask, forearm, or
shoulder, regardless of whether the defensive player also uses his arms to tackle the defenseless
player by encircling or grasping him; and
(2)
Lowering the head and making forcible contact with the
top/crown or forehead/”hairline” parts of
the helmet against any part of the defenseless player’s body.
Note: The provisions of (2) do not prohibit incidental contact by the mask or helmet in the course of a conventional tackle on an opponent.
Penalty: For unnecessary roughness: Loss of 15 ...

http://www.nfl.com/static/content/publi ... onduct.pdf

So did he leave his feet and launch himself into Keller and was any part of the helmet involved and was he defenseless? Seems like all 3 have to be present?

However does this apply?



So here it would seem was the top/crown or forehead/hairline parts of the helmet used and was Keller defenseless? Incidental contact of helmet not counted.

Keller fits the definition of a "defenseless receiver", but from what I saw Swearinger didn't launch himself into Keller's knee, nor did he hit him with the crown of his helmet.

Well a few more legal plays like this and going low will probably be banned also. So go for middle? Then if there is something unforeseen like increase of cracked vertebrae or maybe to many missed tackles or whatever they can just rewrite the rules for defenseless players as a tackle is not necessary but a two handed touch supported by video evidence will be enough. Is the game fundamentally changing?

You can't look at that play and tell me hte helmet didn't hit Keller's knee. Was his head up...no ... so yes by the letter of the law its not the crown. This is the problem when geeks put rules in place who have never strapped on a set of pads. If the intent is the protect the player and not just enforce some assinine rule, then let the players union decided what an illegal hit is. The very fact Swearinger had his entire body parallel to the ground, 1 foot from the ground, indicated his intent to be a human missle on Kellers lower body with a high possibility to put him out of the game.
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap100000 ... tin-keller

Yeah D.J. Swearinger is evil incarnate.

In that split second, all he could do was salivate at the thought that he was about to end the season for a guy he doesn't know. It's amazing how in that split second he calculate just the angle to take to cause the most damage possible.

It may even be that before the game, he played out this scenario knowing this would happen and he'd have the opportunity to tear some ligaments.

It's completely and entirely impossible that he was simply reacting to a play in front of him and realized he was going to be tackling a guy that is considerably bigger than him and he would probably fail if he did it straight up.

I know because I'm telepathic.

Yeah D.J. Swearinger is evil incarnate.

In that split second, all he could do was salivate at the thought that he was about to end the season for a guy he doesn't know. It's amazing how in that split second he calculate just the angle to take to cause the most damage possible.

It may even be that before the game, he played out this scenario knowing this would happen and he'd have the opportunity to tear some ligaments.

It's completely and entirely impossible that he was simply reacting to a play in front of him and realized he was going to be tackling a guy that is considerably bigger than him and he would probably fail if he did it straight up.

I know because I'm telepathic.

Yeah D.J. Swearinger is evil incarnate.

In that split second, all he could do was salivate at the thought that he was about to end the season for a guy he doesn't know. It's amazing how in that split second he calculate just the angle to take to cause the most damage possible.

It may even be that before the game, he played out this scenario knowing this would happen and he'd have the opportunity to tear some ligaments.

It's completely and entirely impossible that he was simply reacting to a play in front of him and realized he was going to be tackling a guy that is considerably bigger than him and he would probably fail if he did it straight up.

I know because I'm telepathic.

No. I don't care if it's Dustin Keller, Jeff Cumberland (Jets), Zack Sudfeld (Pats), Scott Chandler (Bills), or anyone else, this type of hit should not be tolerated in the NFL. If they really care about a player's safety, they should protect EVERY player's knees, not just the QB