Tackle football is an extremely physical sport. As such, it is important for players to both understand and use the proper safety equipment. In addition, football leagues always have rules in place to protect their players, regardless of the level. Infractions of these safety rules tend to carry the heaviest penalties, due to their potentially serious consequences. It is important to remember that due to the physicality of the sport, injuries are possible even when all safety precautions are followed.
Safety Equipment & Usage
The helmet with a face mask is the single most important piece of football safety equipment. The helmet's purpose is to protect the head and face of the player from injury. Your helmet must be on at all times and in good working order, with no serious dents, scratches, cracks or other signs of fatigue. Concussions and other serious brain injuries may occur from not using appropriate helmets.
Shoulder pads should always be worn, as the majority of the contact during a football play occurs around the head and shoulder areas of the player's body. Shoulder pads offer the player protection from shoulder injuries such as dislocations, separations, sprains and fractures. Like helmets, shoulder pads are considered to be required equipment. In addition to shoulder pads, pads should also be worn around the hips, tailbone and knees.
Rules & Game Play
Spearing, or leading a tackle with your head, is considered an illegal tackle. Spearing can result in injury to both the tackler and the person being tackled. The penalty for spearing is 15 yards.
Chop blocking, or blocking a player below the knees, is typically a 15-yard penalty. Hitting a player below the knee has the potential to result in serious knee and/or ankle injuries.
Face mask penalties are a personal foul, enforced with a 15-yard penalty. Although grabbing the face mask may occur inadvertently, the potential for neck or eye injuries still exists and players are flagged accordingly.
Horse collar tackles occur when a player is brought down by grasping the shoulder pads at the neck from behind. This has the potential to injure the player, and is enforced with a 15-yard penalty.
Roughing the quarterback or kicker is also a 15-yard penalty. Both quarterbacks and kickers are left in vulnerable positions during regular game play. Tackling these players when they are defenseless and other "cheap shots" are sure to draw a penalty.
Fair Play
Unnecessary roughness is a personal foul, carrying a 15-yard penalty. Unnecessary roughness typically occurs for tackles or hits occurring after the end of the play, or extremely aggressive behavior.
Fighting is illegal, and all football leagues have rules in place to deter players from fighting. These rules sometimes carry the threat of ejection at the most serious level. Typically, fighting results in unnecessary roughness penalties.
Players returning kicks are entitled to signal for a "fair catch," in which they are allowed to field the kick without being tackled. During a catch, the player may be looking up to catch the ball and unaware of an impending tackle. Violating a fair catch results in a 15-yard penalty.
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