New Orleans Saints safety Kenny Vaccaro will almost certainly be forced to pay a fine for an illegal hit he threw in Monday night’s game against the Minnesota Vikings, but the man on the receiving end of the blow is in no way upset about it.
In fact, Vikings wide receiver Stefon Diggs is glad Vaccaro hit him high instead of going low.
“I’ll take a head shot any day of the week,” Diggs said on PFT Live Tuesday morning. “Legs are very delicate — injuries happen.
“I didn’t see it all the way, I don’t know what happened as far as he led with his helmet or anything like that, but I just call it football. I’m on to the next play.”
Here’s the play where Vaccaro lit up Diggs:
Saints S Kenny Vaccaro just got a flag thrown for this hit. Absolutely leveled Stefon Diggs. pic.twitter.com/L5Fh5Tqriv
— Clint Lamb (@ClintRLamb) September 12, 2017
The NFL league office hands out fines for hits on defenseless receivers in the head and neck area, but there are no rules against taking out an opponent’s knee. Those rules only exist for quarterbacks, and even one of the best tight ends in NFL history said he believes they should extend to low hits.
Science in the past few years has shown how dangerous repeated blows to the head can be for a player’s long-term health, but Diggs’ opinion is one that is shared by many NFL players. As dangerous as it sounds, a lot of players would prefer multiple concussions to a torn ACL.
