Or, you know, not for a stiff arm at all.

Or maybe it was for the blatant face mask and head twist.

The link in the article "this celebration of the stiff arm" trumps what I came in here to say and is better than the article itself and whatever else will be posted in here.

ThisNameSux: Or maybe it was for the blatant face mask and head twist.

This.

I don't think it is legal for the defender to take the guy with the ball down with a stiffy to face. I think this just makes the facemask rule consistent on both sides of the ball.

kronicfeld: EnviroDude: Football is a wimp sport now. Thanks, NFL!

Walk up to Brian Urlacher and tell him that. And videotape the consequences. Please.

I'd do it. I could use a pay out for my "pain and suffering."

FTFA: Video of the play is here, and although it was actually Rams cornerback Bradley Fletcher who was called for a facemasking penalty on the play, Rice also grabbed Fletcher's facemask, and that's why Rice was fined.

The article's headline is less accurate than your average Fark headline. Good job, NBC sports moron.

Heisman trophy statue breaks down and cries

Too late. The Heisman committee has had a box of Kleenex at the ready since Desmond Howard.

And this is further proof of the pussification of 'Merica...

jake_lex: kronicfeld: EnviroDude: Football is a wimp sport now. Thanks, NFL!

Walk up to Brian Urlacher and tell him that. And videotape the consequences. Please.

I think we've just reached the point where football players now are so big and so powerful that it can't really be the "smash mouth" game it used to be.

You can pine for the old days all you want, but the thing is rules like this aren't going to hurt the game nearly as much as having its biggest stars suffering career ending injuries -- or perhaps killed outright.

2/10 try harder troll

mikaloyd: Heisman trophy doesnt even have a facemask to grab.

This

basemetal: You can stiff arm as an offensive player, you can even do it on the opponents facemask, but the moment you curl your fingers into that facemask, it becomes a penalty. Push, don't grab.

You are correct sir.

t3knomanser: FTFA: Video of the play is here, and although it was actually Rams cornerback Bradley Fletcher who was called for a facemasking penalty on the play, Rice also grabbed Fletcher's facemask, and that's why Rice was fined.

The article's headline is less accurate than your average Fark headline. Good job, NBC sports moron.

This. During the play, I asked out loud how the defensive player got called for a facemask when the offensive player grabbed and pulled harder than he did, with no call. At worst, it should have been offsetting penalties.

Who is depicted in the Heisman Trophy?

It was designed by New York sculptor Frank Eliscu, who was commissioned by the Downtown Athletic Club to create a figure of a football player in imperishable bronze to serve as an annual trophy award. Eliscu used his friend Ed Smith, a starter on the New York University Football team, as the player model for his initial creations.

Since this thread mentions the Heisman, it's ok to threadjack it for college football, right?

Muta: ThisNameSux: Or maybe it was for the blatant face mask and head twist.

This.

I don't think it is legal for the defender to take the guy with the ball down with a stiffy to face. I think this just makes the facemask rule consistent on both sides of the ball.

Yeah I always thought it was crazy that offensive players could grab facemasks but defensive players couldnt

A stiff arm needs to come from the RBs (or WRs) shoulder, and push them away by extending the arm out. A punch to the head, placing the hand under the facemask, or a grabbing of the head and a twist, do not qualify as stiff arms.

A textbook stiff arm is the one Marshawn Lynch laid out on the Saints (several of them, I think), in last year's playoff game. What Rice was fine for was grabbing and twisting. Not a stiff arm.

/failure is subby's

A well executed stuff arm from a running back is one of the most beautiful things in the game of football.

Darren McFadden is getting pretty good at it, and I love it.

Whar college gameday thread?

What a stiffarm might look like: Pee Wee Stiff Arms! (new window)

EnviroDude: Football is a wimp sport now. Thanks, NFL!

WhiskeySticks: And this is further proof of the pussification of 'Merica...

Know how I know you didn't read the article?

6 minutes into "The celebration of the stiff arm" link in the article and I'm like "WTF no Sweetness?"

Oh, there he is!

God gave me two arms, one holds the ball, and the other is for stiffing a tacker.

Where is the mf'n college football thread?

In the video tribute to the stiffarm they mention Larry Fitzgerald didn't want to use the stiffarm at first because he didn't want to mess up his manicures? HUH!?!?! They wear gloves! Hard to penetrate ones too!

whizbangthedirtfarmer: A textbook stiff arm is the one Marshawn Lynch laid out on the Saints (several of them, I think), in last year's playoff game.

I hate you for bringing this up. You want to see an entire city and region collapse on itself as the result of a single play?

There ya go. Trolled hard.

EnviroDude: kronicfeld: EnviroDude: Football is a wimp sport now. Thanks, NFL!

Walk up to Brian Urlacher and tell him that. And videotape the consequences. Please.

Real sportsmen don't need $$$ of equipment to keep them from getting hurt. I like football but believe the recent rules kill the momentum of the game. With the refs blowing whistles and flags every other minute, it takes the edge from the game.


I'd almost rather watch rugby.

I agree that the UN building amount of flags is getting annoying, but at the same time I understand that owners want their franchise player investments to stay intact. Make no mistake - the recent rules aren't because of whiny players (Vick notwithstanding) but owners wanting those investments to stay on the field.

Most flags aren't typically due to new(er) rules. Did you see last Monday's game? Jesus farking Christ. I'm surprised it didn't last until 2am.

kronicfeld: EnviroDude: Football is a wimp sport now. Thanks, NFL!

Walk up to Brian Urlacher and tell him that. And videotape the consequences. Please.

FOOTBALL IS FAAAAAAAAAAAAKE!

majestic: Where is the mf'n college football thread?

^^^^^^THIS^^^^^^

kronicfeld: EnviroDude: Football is a wimp sport now. Thanks, NFL!

Walk up to Brian Urlacher and tell him that. And videotape the consequences. Please.

Accepts the challenge Link (new window)

downstairs: You're supposed to stiff arm to the body. Anyone could fend off a block with a stiff arm to the facemask.

Well, ideally, you want to stiff arm someone in a fashion such that the vector of force passes through their center of mass. When a tackler lowers his head, that line is going to pass through his head. Tacklers are trained to go low, so they're often going to lower their heads.

whizbangthedirtfarmer: A punch to the head, placing the hand under the facemask, or a grabbing of the head and a twist, do not qualify as stiff arms.

Actually, the "best" stiffarm is the one that pushes up at the bottom of a defensive player's facemask, pushes his head back at an angle and (based on the number of players who use looser helmets) pushes his helmet half-way off his head.

Not a "punch," necessarily, but an open hand.

Sorry, sugarplum, if you can't handle a stiffarm to the face, maybe you shouldn't be trying to tackle Ray Rice, m'kay?

/not even a Ravens fan
//may Art Modell DIAF

The Smails Kid: Sorry, sugarplum, if you can't handle a stiffarm to the face, maybe you shouldn't be trying to tackle Ray Rice, m'kay?

/not even a Ravens fan
//may Art Modell DIAF

Fletcher isn't the one who levied the fine.

Larry Mahnken: The Smails Kid: Sorry, sugarplum, if you can't handle a stiffarm to the face, maybe you shouldn't be trying to tackle Ray Rice, m'kay?

/not even a Ravens fan
//may Art Modell DIAF

Fletcher isn't the one who levied the fine.

I'm happy if Roger Gooddell DIAF too.

The Smails Kid: Larry Mahnken: The Smails Kid: Sorry, sugarplum, if you can't handle a stiffarm to the face, maybe you shouldn't be trying to tackle Ray Rice, m'kay?

/not even a Ravens fan
//may Art Modell DIAF

Fletcher isn't the one who levied the fine.

I'm happy if Roger Gooddell DIAF too.

I'm not quite sure if I get all of the Goodell hate, myself. I understand that he is trying to make the game safer, and that he is doing it in such a way that major "name" players are on the fields as much as possible. Those who say he is "wimping up" the game or something like that tend to be those sorts of folks who a) never play football, or b) would prefer it to turn into NASCAR, where the game is secondary in importance to the slo-mo replays of a major hit. I don't watch football for the gore factor, and I would like to think a lot of others do not either. I watch it because I enjoy seeing a good, well-played game in which no one sustains a major injury.

The only Goodell stuff I don't agree with (as far as I know) is his lack of an ability to fine/suspend players who get into fights. I still have no idea how Andre Johnson and Cortland Finnegan were not suspended last season. I seem to remember that if something like that happened in the 80s, they would have been ejected, at the very least. Now, when players fight, they are simply sent back to the bench, and only every once in a while given a 15 yard penalty. If I wanted to see a fistfight, I'd go see a hockey game.

whizbangthedirtfarmer: The Smails Kid: Larry Mahnken: The Smails Kid: Sorry, sugarplum, if you can't handle a stiffarm to the face, maybe you shouldn't be trying to tackle Ray Rice, m'kay?

/not even a Ravens fan
//may Art Modell DIAF

Fletcher isn't the one who levied the fine.

I'm happy if Roger Gooddell DIAF too.

I'm not quite sure if I get all of the Goodell hate, myself.

Among other things, I hold Roger Goodell personally responsible for the cancellation of the Hall of Fame Game.

Not an NFL fan but that was weeeeeeeeeeeeak Goddell