Targeting

[Some guy]

Really need a rule change.

Wisconsin targeting SHOULD be a penalty
But kids shouldn’t be ejected for bang bang plays with no clear intent. Really makes the refs look bad at times.

the ejection meant to take head hunting out of the game and it really has. Have two levels of targeting.
15 yard penalty and suspendable

 

[Word]

Really need a rule change.

Wisconsin targeting SHOULD be a penalty
But kids shouldn’t be ejected for bang bang plays with no clear intent. Really makes the refs look bad at times.

the ejection meant to take head hunting out of the game and it really has. Have two levels of targeting.
15 yard penalty and suspendable

It's really hard to interpret intent though. I can see where they would want to avoid "intent" in a rule.

 

[kisarazu]

Even if it's unintentional, they want to get lowering the head for tackles out of the game. Keep your head up.

 

[Some guy]

It's really hard to interpret intent though. I can see where they would want to avoid "intent" in a rule.

If it is hard to interpret they should error on the side of letting a kid keep playing after a 15 yard penalty

 

[Some guy]

Even if it's unintentional, they want to get lowering the head out for tackles out of the game. Keep your head up.

A big chunk of ejections are guys’ face masks hitting offensive players. Also known as heads being up

 

[short ornery norwegian]

random thought --
1st 'targeting" penalty - player misses rest of half but can return for the next half.
if player receives a 2nd 'targeting' penalty, then he misses the rest of that game and the entire next game.

 

[Marooned]

Watching it, the intent was clear the kid was trying to make a big hit to the head area on CAB. It was 100% the correct call.

 

[Some guy]

Watching it, the intent was clear the kid was trying to make a big hit to the head area on CAB. It was 100% the correct call.

He was “targeting” CAB’s midsection and CAB ducked.

head down is why he got penalty, but it wasn’t a cheap shot.

 

[stocker08]

Really need a rule change.

Wisconsin targeting SHOULD be a penalty
But kids shouldn’t be ejected for bang bang plays with no clear intent. Really makes the refs look bad at times.

the ejection meant to take head hunting out of the game and it really has. Have two levels of targeting.
15 yard penalty and suspendable

Guy lowered his head and made forcible contact on CAB. The reason why it is an ejectable play is because it is dangerous. Would it have changed your opinion if that play had taken CAB out of the game?

 

[Some guy]

Guy lowered his head and made forcible contact on CAB. The reason why it is an ejectable play is because it is dangerous. Would it have changed your opinion if that play had taken CAB out of the game?

No.
Guys get hurt in football. I don’t think Wilder was trying to hurt him. Do you?

 

[Word]

No.
Guys get hurt in football. I don’t think Wilder was trying to hurt him. Do you?

It looked like a possibility, yes.

 

[TNGophfan]

It looked like a possibility, yes.

Agree. Also, and I don't see all the games, but I haven't seen kids get ejected for face mask to face mask contact, only crown of helmet.

 

[Marooned]

He was “targeting” CAB’s midsection and CAB ducked.

head down is why he got penalty, but it wasn’t a cheap shot.

There were plenty of things that player could’ve done differently in that moment. He chose to do the most dangerous action for the big hit on one of our star players. If that ain’t cheap, I don’t know what is.

 

[Some guy]

It looked like a possibility, yes.

Disagree

 

[matt]

random thought --
1st 'targeting" penalty - player misses rest of half but can return for the next half.
if player receives a 2nd 'targeting' penalty, then he misses the rest of that game and the entire next game.

Sounds similar to a yellow card/red card situation.

 

[Some guy]

There were plenty of things that player could’ve done differently in that moment. He chose to do the most dangerous action for the big hit on one of our star players. If that ain’t cheap, I don’t know what is.

Yeah, that’s why it’s a penalty

If we are going to eject a guy any time they do something illegal we should expand ejections to more penalties
Any roughing the passer or punter/kicker
Etc

 

[Word]

Yeah, that’s why it’s a penalty

If we are going to eject a guy any time they do something illegal we should expand ejections to more penalties
Any roughing the passer or punter/kicker
Etc

Different when you are head hunting. But I do believe other "intent-to-injure" penalties like punching could result in an ejection, no?

 

[Some guy]

Different when you are head hunting. But I do believe other "intent-to-injure" penalties like punching could result in an ejection, no?

Yeah.
I don’t think wilder had intent to injure. He was making a hit below his own shoulder height

 

[Schnauzer]

I hate targeting. There is very little consistency on when it is called and when it is upheld in my opinion.

The simple fact is one’s shoulder is mere inches from the crown of the head and when running at full speed, with two players having heads moving quickly both horizontally and vertically- it is very easy to aim a shoulder but land a hit with a helmet.

It is maddening to see players that obviously weren’t intending to lead with their helmets get ejected. It is equally maddening to see “textbook” examples of players purposely leading with their helmets, hitting opponents in the head, and the call is missed even with video review.

For those reasons, the entire set of rules related to targeting should be revisited and overhauled.

 

[Word]

Yeah.
I don’t think wilder had intent to injure. He was making a hit below his own shoulder height

I guess there's only one guy that really knows.

 

[State of Football]

Oliver’s hit in the second half is how you tackle. Taking a guys head off has no place in football. The penalty should be stiff.

 

[Some guy]

I guess there's only one guy that really knows.

Yeah. So I think they should change the rule so unless you know for certain you don’t get ejected.

rolling up on a QB on a roughing the passer is just as dangerous as that play…we don’t eject that guy.

 

[50PoundHead]

The game has changed dramatically (as has the coverage). It used to be that "form tackling" was taught from junior high on. Now with players as big and fast as they are, any notion of that has pretty much gone out the window because it just doesn't work. But I think kids longing for the "big hit" that will show up on the highlight reel instead of simply stopping a guy is also part of the problem. It used to be an isolated instance (Chuck Bednarik hit on Frank Gifford and the like), but it seems knocking the ball carrier down by going for the upper body and head (especially in the open field) has become the preferred method of tackling. It can really be severe when the offensive player is defenseless.

I don't know what Wilder's intent was, but I do believe that defensive players do try to take players out (and that is as old as the game itself) and the refs can only judge by the looks of things seeing they aren't mindreaders.

 

[Some guy]

Oliver’s hit in the second half is how you tackle. Taking a guys head off has no place in football. The penalty should be stiff.

A 15 yard penalty is a stiff penalty.
College football is the only level with an automatic ejection

 

[State of Football]

High school is an automatic ejection.

 

[Word]

Yeah. So I think they should change the rule so unless you know for certain you don’t get ejected.

rolling up on a QB on a roughing the passer is just as dangerous as that play…we don’t eject that guy.

I'm not saying the targeting rule is perfect but the penalty should be stiff. College hockey routinely ejects guys for checking from behind. Hard to judge intent there too but the rule is the rule.

 

[Some guy]

I'm not saying the targeting rule is perfect but the penalty should be stiff. College hockey routinely ejects guys for checking from behind. Hard to judge intent there too but the rule is the rule.

Difference between an ejection in hockey and football is an ejection in hockey is 3% of the season and an ejection in football is 8% of the season.

maybe they should make the penalty the rest of the quarter and the next quarter.

 

[Word]

Difference between an ejection in hockey and football is an ejection in hockey is 3% of the season and an ejection in football is 8% of the season.

maybe they should make the penalty the rest of the quarter and the next quarter.

I'd be ok with that. Still a stiff penalty. Could also look at cumulative if a player has a pattern.

 

[highwayman]

It doesn’t help that there are cheap shot and late hits on almost every NFL play. College players, unless properly instructed or enforced, think that’s OK.

 

[hungan1]

Really need a rule change.

Wisconsin targeting SHOULD be a penalty
But kids shouldn’t be ejected for bang bang plays with no clear intent. Really makes the refs look bad at times.

the ejection meant to take head hunting out of the game and it really has. Have two levels of targeting.
15 yard penalty and suspendable

I disagree.

The line had to be drawn to limit dangerous plays. This rule gets teams to take player safety seriously. Either player on both sides of the play can get hurt seriously.

It stinks for Wisconsin to lose their Defensive signal caller.