The NFL won’t look the same in 2024. During this week’s slate of owners meetings in Orlando, Fla., the league passed several key changes. Among the most notable and visible are the banning of the “hip-drop” tackle and the radical new kickoff formation, taking the XFL’s approach in the hopes of decreasing injuries and increasing returns. For Art Rooney II and the Pittsburgh Steelers, they supported only one of those two changes.
Speaking with reporters Tuesday, Rooney said he and the team was fully in favor of taking the hip-drop tackle out of the game. As tweeted by the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review’s Joe Rutter, Rooney pointed to RB Le’Veon Bell suffering a serious injury on that type of tackle.
Presumably, he’s referring to the 2015 season-ending MCL sprain Bell suffered against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 8. LB Vontaze Burfict tackled Bell along the sideline using the same technique now outlawed by the league, leaving his feet, swiveling, and pulling Bell down. Bell’s right knee got caught under Burfict, tearing his MCL (though somehow avoiding an ACL tear) but ending his season all the same.
In the ensuing offseason, Bell would accuse the Bengals’ defense of playing dirty with the intent of injuring him. Burfict was known as one of the league’s dirtiest players, suspended multiple times for on-field conduct. It’s an action Rooney strongly wanted out of the game, even knowing it’s tough to legislate.
“It will be interesting to see how it gets called,” Rooney said via Steelers.com’s Dale Lolley. “But there’s no question it can be a dangerous play.”
Though the NFL itself has admitted that flagging the hip drop will be difficult in real time, addressing it was high priority. The league intends to fine the play after each week, hurting player’s pocketbooks more than it may hurt their teams’ chances of winning.
Curiously, Rooney said the Steelers weren’t in favor of the kickoff rule that pits the coverage and return team five yards apart in opponents’ territory. Neither side can move until the ball either hits the ground or the kick is fielded. Other changes include placing two kick returns in the “landing zone” behind the return team while touchbacks will be brought out to the 30-yard line, though there are two exceptions. If the ball falls short of the 20 and landing zone, the touchback comes out to the 40. If the ball rolls into the end zone, the touchback will be placed at the 20.
Per the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Gerry Dulac, Rooney said the team wasn’t in favor of the rule but voted for it once he realized it would pass. The final vote was 29-3 in favor of the change. The Green Bay Packers, Las Vegas Raiders, and San Francisco 49ers voted against it.
“It’s a dramatic change…we had some reservations because of that,” Rooney said via Lolley and the team website.
Perhaps the vote was a show of solidarity for a monumental change, but the Steelers still could’ve voted against it even knowing it would pass, making Rooney’s comment a little odd. The kickoff rule is a one-year trial run that could be tweaked or even scrapped if the results aren’t promising.
Those changes are among many accepted NFL rule changes this year. Others include a more expansive replay system while the Steelers’ proposal to push the trade deadline from Week 8 to Week 9 was adopted.
