Many players are furious over the NFL’s decision to ban the hip-drop tackle, but at least one veteran running back feels the change was long overdue.
NFL team owners on Monday voted unanimously to approve a rule that bans the hip-drop tackle, which is when a defender wraps up the offensive player and then twists or falls to the ground using his full body weight. The NFL Players Association was adamantly against the proposed rule and issued a statement recently saying it will place defensive players in an “impossible position.”
Kenyan Drake does not agree with the NFLPA. The free-agent running back shared a video on X that showed a defender injuring Drake’s ankle with a hip-drop tackle during the 2021 season. Drake had originally shared the video after the December 2021 game and said the NFL “needs to look at this specific style of tackling.”
https://twitter.com/KDx32/status/1772357329268129986
“i don’t care about popular opinion. i lost my right ankle and a quarter of the ‘21 season to this type of tackle. something had to give and im glad it’s not anybody legs/ankles anymore,” Drake wrote on Monday.
That is a much, much different opinion from the one JJ Watt and others shared after news of the ban passed.
Opponents of the hip-drop tackle ban argue that the NFL has already made it difficult enough for defenders to tackle. The play is also one that will be tough to officiate, though the league will likely issue fines after the fact even if no flag is thrown. If an official does throw a flag for a hip-drop tackle, the result will be a 15-yard penalty and automatic first down.
There was at least one-high profile injury last season that came as a result of a hip-drop tackle, which probably factored into the new rule passing unanimously.
