The whirlwind caused by the NFL levying fines on its players for flagrant hits appears to have finally died down, but a couple of former Bruins have some differing thoughts.
“I think the NFL is on the right track,” former UCLA football coach Terry Donahue said. “I think anytime you can make the game safer, you’re on the right track.”
Another UCLA alumnus wasn’t so sure.
“This is what most of us that have been playing in the league have seen growing up ““ these type of hits fired us up,” former UCLA cornerback Alterraun Verner said.
The “type of hits” Verner is referring to are the same ones that are illegal in the NFL these days. On Oct. 19, the NFL announced it would not be changing any rules, but would start to impose greater fines and possible suspensions for a set of rules that was put into place this past offseason. The rules center around using the helmet to hit a defenseless player’s “head, neck or face.” The policy was ramped up because of several hits early in the season that resulted in concussions.
Donahue played at UCLA in the 1960s before being hired as the head coach of UCLA’s program from 1976 to 1995. He also served as the general manager for the San Fransisco 49ers from 2001 to 2005 and saw several rules change in the interest of safety while he was with the Bruins and the 49ers. Specifically, Donahue coached through the elimination of chop blocking, in which the object of the block is to take out a player’s legs, and the inclusion of a penalty for running into the punter.
“I don’t think the NFL has gone too far at all,” said Donahue, who now serves as a radio analyst for college football. “I think that people will adapt to the new policies, and you’ll see less and less of these hits because the fines will be significant or the suspensions, and the players will learn to adjust to it and adapt. They always do.”
Verner, who has started in four games as a rookie for the Tennessee Titans, sees both sides of the coin but persists that he hasn’t changed the way he plays since the fines were handed down.
“I can see (NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell’s) point of trying to protect players from concussions and things that will cause permanent damages for future times, so you don’t ever want to see that happen, but then this is kind of the essence of football,” Verner said. “It’s a Catch-22.”
Goodell made good on his threats, fining three players after the announcement was made: Pittsburgh linebacker James Harrison, New England safety Brandon Meriweather and Atlanta cornerback Dunta Robinson. Robinson and Meriweather had to fork over $50,000 each, while Harrison had to pay $75,000 because his flagrant tackle was a repeat offense.
“We understand this is not just about the NFL,” NFL Executive Vice President of Football Operations Ray Anderson said in an interview with ESPN Radio. “This is about safety at our level, at the college level, at the high school level, at the pee-wee level, because we are the standard bearer and we are committed to safety at the highest level.”
Harrison made more waves in the media after being fined by insisting he was going to retire.
“I’m going to sit down and have a serious conversation with my coach (Mike Tomlin) tomorrow and see if I can actually play by NFL rules and still be effective,” Harrison said in an interview with Fox Sports Radio after hearing of the fine. “If not, I may have to give up playing football.”
Harrison ended up returning to practice and even received praise from the NFL for his clean play in an Oct. 24 win over the Miami.
Despite the soap opera that surrounded the fines, Donahue thinks that, in the end, Goodell will come out the victor.
“I think most players who are reasonable, prudent and rational people are going to see that this is in the best interest of the game,” said Donahue.
While the NFL appears to be done with the fines for now, time will tell if cooler heads will prevail, as Donahue suggests.