Cowboys' Williams target of rule change
By Len Pasquarelli
ESPN.com
When the NFL outlawed the head slap, the synapse-numbing move popularized by Deacon Jones that rendered pass-blockers dazed and senseless, it didn't name the rule for the former Los Angeles Rams star.
But everyone knew it was the Hall of Fame defensive end, maybe the greatest pass-rusher in NFL history, who precipitated the sanctions with the terror he wrought.
Earlier this year, when the NFL banned certain peel-back blocks against unsuspecting defenders, few specifically singled out Denver Broncos offensive tackle George Foster as a culprit. Unless you live in a cave, though, and never viewed any of the thousands of replays that graphically illustrate the cheap shot Foster used against Tony Williams, which broke the ankle of the Bengals defensive lineman, you know whose indiscretion served as catalyst for the new rule.
And so next week, when owners figure to expunge the "horse-collar" tackle, as they convene for two days of meetings in Washington, count on the banishment being known, at least temporarily, as the "Roy Williams Rule."
"I guess that I have arrived," the Dallas Cowboys safety said when apprised of the pending action against a technique that he has used since college.
Maybe so. But the horse-collar tackle that Williams perfected, perhaps to excess, appears to be going, going, almost gone. Most observers, including Atlanta Falcons president Rich McKay, co-chairman of the NFL's powerful competition committee, think the horse-collar tackle is about to exit the game for good.
McKay has been around long enough to know the imprudence of trying to prognosticate the outcome of any NFL vote. But assuming the recommendation of the competition committee is brought to a roll call in Washington – the matter was tabled at the annual league meetings in Maui, Hawaii, just two months ago – sanctions against the horse-collar tackle are expected to be immediately enacted.
The tackle, in which a defender grabs onto a ball carrier or receiver by the inside of the shoulder pads from behind and then yanks him down, will result in a 15-yard penalty. To distinguish between a horse-collar tackle and a tackle that occurs during close, in-line play, the foul must occur at least 3 yards outside the "tackle box," essentially in the open field.
In each of the four cases in which players were injured by Williams, the competition committee determined the Dallas safety had ignored the opportunity to make a more conventional tackle.
"There are some plays, maybe that fall into the gray area at times, that don't belong in our game," said Tennessee Titans head coach Jeff Fisher, the other co-chairman of the competition committee. "And we've determined that's one of them."
The committee concluded, McKay said, there were six horse-collar tackles in '04 that resulted in serious injuries. The most infamous, of course, was Williams' much-reviewed drag-down tackle on Terrell Owens after a 20-yard reception. The play, in the 14th game of the year, resulted in a broken right leg and severely sprained ankle for the Philadelphia star, and sidelined him for the final two regular-season contests and the first two playoff outings. Owens returned, famously, for Super Bowl XXXIX, playing against the orders of the specialist who treated him, and with two surgical screws in his leg.
By Len Pasquarelli
ESPN.com
When the NFL outlawed the head slap, the synapse-numbing move popularized by Deacon Jones that rendered pass-blockers dazed and senseless, it didn't name the rule for the former Los Angeles Rams star.
But everyone knew it was the Hall of Fame defensive end, maybe the greatest pass-rusher in NFL history, who precipitated the sanctions with the terror he wrought.
Earlier this year, when the NFL banned certain peel-back blocks against unsuspecting defenders, few specifically singled out Denver Broncos offensive tackle George Foster as a culprit. Unless you live in a cave, though, and never viewed any of the thousands of replays that graphically illustrate the cheap shot Foster used against Tony Williams, which broke the ankle of the Bengals defensive lineman, you know whose indiscretion served as catalyst for the new rule.
And so next week, when owners figure to expunge the "horse-collar" tackle, as they convene for two days of meetings in Washington, count on the banishment being known, at least temporarily, as the "Roy Williams Rule."
"I guess that I have arrived," the Dallas Cowboys safety said when apprised of the pending action against a technique that he has used since college.
Maybe so. But the horse-collar tackle that Williams perfected, perhaps to excess, appears to be going, going, almost gone. Most observers, including Atlanta Falcons president Rich McKay, co-chairman of the NFL's powerful competition committee, think the horse-collar tackle is about to exit the game for good.
McKay has been around long enough to know the imprudence of trying to prognosticate the outcome of any NFL vote. But assuming the recommendation of the competition committee is brought to a roll call in Washington – the matter was tabled at the annual league meetings in Maui, Hawaii, just two months ago – sanctions against the horse-collar tackle are expected to be immediately enacted.
The tackle, in which a defender grabs onto a ball carrier or receiver by the inside of the shoulder pads from behind and then yanks him down, will result in a 15-yard penalty. To distinguish between a horse-collar tackle and a tackle that occurs during close, in-line play, the foul must occur at least 3 yards outside the "tackle box," essentially in the open field.
In each of the four cases in which players were injured by Williams, the competition committee determined the Dallas safety had ignored the opportunity to make a more conventional tackle.
"There are some plays, maybe that fall into the gray area at times, that don't belong in our game," said Tennessee Titans head coach Jeff Fisher, the other co-chairman of the competition committee. "And we've determined that's one of them."
The committee concluded, McKay said, there were six horse-collar tackles in '04 that resulted in serious injuries. The most infamous, of course, was Williams' much-reviewed drag-down tackle on Terrell Owens after a 20-yard reception. The play, in the 14th game of the year, resulted in a broken right leg and severely sprained ankle for the Philadelphia star, and sidelined him for the final two regular-season contests and the first two playoff outings. Owens returned, famously, for Super Bowl XXXIX, playing against the orders of the specialist who treated him, and with two surgical screws in his leg.
