Flagrant is pretty obvious. Malicious is pretty obvious. It should take a unanimous vote by 3 refs There wouldn't be many of these penalties called in a single season. It does work in soccer -
Aw the hit wasn't that bad. Colt saw it coming. He started to lower himself to brace for impact. That created the helmet hit. Otherwise, he would have caught the full impact to his chest and probably have the wind knocked out of him. I hate the new rules. We push these guys to get bigger, faster, stronger, then when that translates on the field into really hard "oooo" hits, it's a huge problem. Their payday, draft status, profile, everything, is tied to a draft process that rewards workout warriors. Their persona is defined by who's the most ferocious hitter. Wo delivers the most punishment. What do you think will happen when you've populated the league with a bunch of guys that bench 225 lbs. 30+ times in one sitting? A bunch 270 lb. guys running 4.6 40's. Fast and strong, but still brutal. Bound to cause problems.
It's a CONTACT sport. If you don't like it...watch soccer, move to England, eat dung and die....whatever....but don't WUSSIFY this sport kind sir!!!
First, let me go on record as saying yes it's a contact sport. That said, as you mentioned above, the players are getting bigger, stronger, and faster by leaps and bounds. The only people not getting a lot bigger is the QB. Add to that the defenseless thing and that is a recipe for taking someone's head off.
Fact is that safeties aren't allowed to play the game anymore. The job of a safety used to be to knock a receiver's dick off so that he drops the ball. Now there is a "defenseless receiver" and the safety has to let him get possession, turn, acknowledge the presence of the safety, trade insurance cards, have tea, and then finally the safety my ask him to gently slide to the ground.
Should take all the pads off and make em all play old school. All the primadonnas want longevity. Get their dollars up. They're phucking the very game they play. Blame the players and the union, not the league.
90% of the helmet to helmet calls I've seen either weren't, or they were caused by the hittee lowering his head at the last second. McCoy took two or three steps before lowering his head into that hit. He's a puss of epic proportions...a millionaire pro football player whose daddy still whines for him when somebody hits him in tackle football!