Swearinger says rules made him hit Keller low
 

Hope the Saints are aware of this guy!
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A hit from Texans rookie safety D.J. Swearinger has apparently ended the season of Dolphins tight end Dustin Keller.

But Swearinger suggested that he might not have hit Keller as low as he did if not for the league’s emphasis on hits to the head.

“I was making a hit playing football,” Swearinger said, via Andrew Abramson of the Palm Beach Post. “In this league you’ve got to go low. If you go high you’re going to get a fine. . . .

“The rules say you can’t hit high so I went low and I’m sorry that happened. I would think you’d rather have more concussions than leg injuries. Leg injury, you can’t come back from that. A concussion, you be back in a couple in a couple of weeks.”

Well, except for the possible long-ranging effects of what’s referred to medically as mild traumatic brain trauma, that might be the case.

Swearinger’s attitude might not be particularly enlightened, but it is real, and he’s not the only player who puts a higher value on limbs than brains.

Swearinger says rules made him hit Keller low | ProFootballTalk

Re: Swearinger says rules made him hit Keller low
 

Thank you Goodell!

Re: Swearinger says rules made him hit Keller low
 

Football hit. Is what it is. Stupid opinion on concussions vs. other injuries.

Re: Swearinger says rules made him hit Keller low
 

Was a total cheap shot , guy didn't even try to tackle Keller just fell into his knee and was already aiming for his knee before Keller turned around ... Cheap shots should result in suspensions ... Flagrant cheap shots suck as such should result in fines and suspensions and penalties ... What gives ? Nobody is playing for the Super Bowl tomorrow or the next 4 months for that matter ? What a chump

Re: Swearinger says rules made him hit Keller low
 

That's not the only thing they have to be aware of... But Im really afraid to mention the other..... Get out of Texas with everyone in tact please!!!!

Re: Swearinger says rules made him hit Keller low
 

So to avoid a hit to the head he goes for the knee?

Not buying that one DJ. Sounds like a cheap shot and you're trying to cover your ass with that BS excuse.

Re: Swearinger says rules made him hit Keller low
 

How about making a form tackle DJ, head to stomach, wrap up and drive backwards

That wouldnt result in a fine and wouldnt result in an injury either

Feel for keller, looked extremely painful

Re: Swearinger says rules made him hit Keller low
 

He makes a point you would expect a child to make....

"You told me to be quiet... so I let the house burn down".


Swearinger shouldn't be on a football field if trying to miss the head can only result in a knee for him.


There is a distance of around 4 feet between the head and the knee.... You don't have enough control to hit the middle?


Go to YouTube and search Swearinger hit.... He won't last long in the NFL.

Re: Swearinger says rules made him hit Keller low
 

I just watched the Keller hit and am astounded. Keller was jumping to catch the ball and Swearinger would have hit him in the waist if he wouldn't have went low. There was absolutely no way for helmet to helmet contact on that play.

That was beyond dirty football, kid needs a hefty suspension and fine for that one. :rolleyes:

Re: Swearinger says rules made him hit Keller low
 

When I searched that vid didn't come up.... All I saw we're his egregious intentionally bad college hits.


Thanks for the vid... He intentionally kneecapped him. Should be suspended, and fined. Keller took a one year deal to prove himself only to get blatantly knocked out of the season.


And we were punished for possibly thinking about doing such a thing.

Re: Swearinger says rules made him hit Keller low
 

As a football player you're taught if the person you're trying to tackle is bigger and stronger to tackle low. Especially as a defensive back. I was taught to tackle low at every level, and my friends were taught the same in college. So to me it seems like some people never played football what so ever, or are just as bad as Goodell. No way I'm trying to hit a big ass tight end like Keller in the upper body if i don't have to.

And if you want to talk about form tackling, a true form tackle ends up with both players basically face to face with the defender driving through. And once again, performing a perfect form tackle is one of the most difficult and rare things in the game. So either some never played, or are just bring irrational like Goodell.

Re: Swearinger says rules made him hit Keller low
 

Would you have the same opinion if it would have been Graham and Swearinger dove at his shoe-laces when Graham was in the air?

Re: Swearinger says rules made him hit Keller low
 

That is nasty.
He had no control over himself in that 'tackle'.
Apart from obviously Keller missing a year the league will use stupid hits like that to keep pushing some of the OTT rule changes.
Swearinger comments just make him seem a giant ass.
So had the league not been fining people he would have thrown himself as his head instead.Its a rough game and knees can be damaged playing hardnosed fair football but that was a cheap shot

Re: Swearinger says rules made him hit Keller low
 

Hell yeah. Jimmy Graham is big as hell man. Football is football. These changes aren't making the game safer. They're making it a new game entirely. That's where we're headed. This was meant to be a gladiator sport. You don't play if you can't handle it.

All this defenseless player crap is annoying. And this is coming from a guy who shyed away from contact in an attempt to stay healthier as the season went along in myself.

Re: Swearinger says rules made him hit Keller low
 

Idk what anyone else was taught, but it was always an understood thing that you were trying to hit people to hurt them. Now because people seemed so shocked and appalled by it we have people pretending its not what was always being taught in order to save their own ass. Hell yeah I would want to knock Jimmy Graham out the game. Hell no I don't want to have to deal with him for 4 quarters. And if you put a bounty on 'em, even better. Shout out to Gregg Williams and Uncle Luke. Like Oak told me, this is Sparta.

Re: Swearinger says rules made him hit Keller low
 

I was always taught when a receiver was in the air, drive through their chest/waist. I never was taught to go low when they were defenseless in the air. And that was all the way through my senior year...

Re: Swearinger says rules made him hit Keller low
 

When they're in the air I'd aim for the waist too. But how many times has a guy aimed there, a receiver balled up, and now you got "helmet to helmet" and a fine? That's why people are just going to go low. Lets avoid the chance for a fine all together. We're asking a lot of people who have to make split second decisions.

Re: Swearinger says rules made him hit Keller low
 

Did you watch the video? He went low enough to tie the kids shoe-laces... There were bad things written all over that, and no one is taught to go that low to make a tackle

Re: Swearinger says rules made him hit Keller low
 

Its called a sweep tackle and is very common and useful for a smaller guy to tackle a big one. Especially i youth football when sizes can differ something tremendously. I have coached players that were in the 130lbs range and who tackled guys close to 250lbs by making a sweep tackle.

Re: Swearinger says rules made him hit Keller low
 

Yep. Good hit, unfortunate result. I'm willing to wager that if he hit him in the waist and blew him up he would've got flagged for hitting a defenseless receiver. A little bit higher then the waist and we got a helmet to helmet. Push him with his forearm and there's another flag. I cant tell you how many tackles I've seen like that. I would jump for joy if the Saints made more tackles like that. I'll never forget the day I was 7 or 8 and the other team put a big 100 pound boy at running back. I'm only like 40 pounds. Coach told us all, hit them legs. He'll go down. We hit them legs, he went back to defensive tackle. Its football

Re: Swearinger says rules made him hit Keller low
 

Bingo! We got a winner.

Re: Swearinger says rules made him hit Keller low
 

Thats not a sweep tackle dumb nuts ... A sweep tackle for example is a Small DB taking on a fullback head to head or at an angle Forcing him to hit low to impede momentum then pulling the defenders legs from under him .. Thus Sweeping him ... A Sweep tackle is performed with the arms ready to pull legs from under guys after a hit to the lower body ...

The loser was blatantly aiming directly for Kellers Knee with his shoulder Pad and arm cocked at full speed no tackling form before Keller turned around or even got full possession of the Ball.

Re: Swearinger says rules made him hit Keller low
 

This is so wrong its ridiculous. You drive through the legs just like you drive through any other body part, up ending a player. You don't grab for the legs to pull them out from under a player and buckle them. You grab for the legs to rap up just in case, and hold a player long enough for help to come if needed. Idk who taught you that ****. How many players perform that fake sweep tackle you're talking about? Smh..

Re: Swearinger says rules made him hit Keller low
 

It should be a law that you must make an attempt to wrap up in a tackle................it is in rugby. This makes the game much safer.

Re: Swearinger says rules made him hit Keller low
 

That is actually a very interesting suggestion. It would do away with the hits where a defender just lunges into the offensive player. I fear however it would be a great benefit for the offensive side of the game and a great detriment to the defence.

Re: Swearinger says rules made him hit Keller low
 

Maybe just when the ball carrier leaves their feet? :confused:

Re: Swearinger says rules made him hit Keller low
 

Rugby players use the slide tackle when a smaller player tackles a larger player. Don't tackle with just your shoulder. Use your upper arm as well, then reach around and grab your wrist to complete the bind. Bring your elbows together and slide down the opponents torso while pulling his knees together. You should finish the tackle laying on your side holding his ankles together. It's hard to run with your shoe laces tied together.;)

The dump tackle is no longer allowed. If you pick up a player their shoulders can not come into contact with the ground before their hips. The dive tackle is no longer permitted either. You can not leave your feet to make a tackle. We enforce this and the game is safer in recent years after the law changes.
One last thing, watch a rugby game........we don't miss tackles. Wrapping the ball carried is the key.
Rant Over!:p

Re: Swearinger says rules made him hit Keller low
 

Im still angry over the spear tackle from Tana Umaga on Ryan O'Drisscol 12 years ago.No card and the Lions lost the captain from the tour.


Idiots guide for those interested


We hear about Beast mode in the NFL,well this is BEASTMODE George North style


(Language Warning on audio)

Re: Swearinger says rules made him hit Keller low
 

Sweeping thighs is not knee capping someone, and if your teaching kids to go for knees you should reevaluate.

FWIW ... If he were attempting or knew what a sweep tackle was he would have tried that excuse.

Re: Swearinger says rules made him hit Keller low
 

Idiots guide for those interested

I wish I could give you multiple likes on this. :cool3:

Re: Swearinger says rules made him hit Keller low
 

Now nobody wants people to tackle low. Lol. Lets put an x on every area its okay to hit. Better yet, lets make it rugby so everybody can stop playing and watching. We should just disband the NFL. Its too violent. Somebody got tackled below the waist and something bad happened. Oh no! Something must be wrong!!!!!

Re: Swearinger says rules made him hit Keller low
 

Oh BS. Boxing doesn't allow crotch shots and football doesn't allow intentional crippling body blocks to the knee caps.

That's not football

Re: Swearinger says rules made him hit Keller low
 

I was watching this game and I knew Keller was done when he was hit. I don't think DJ should have to explain his self he went low but I don't think he wanted to hurt Keller.

Re: Swearinger says rules made him hit Keller low
 

You can't tell the intent of what he did and you know it Oak. He went low. It doesn't mean he was aiming dead for his knee. He could've been going for the thigh, shin, or ankles but unfortunately hit the knee dead on. This isn't a cheap shot. Its a tackle. A good tackle. A football play. I hate the fact that people who aren't playing football or are decades removed from the sport are dictating the way its played.

Like I said, lets just cancel the games. If we're in the day and age when we're discussing this tackle the sport is going to die soon anyway. That tackle was legit. And if he got hurt on the play he got hurt. If you scared to get hurt don't play, spectate.

Re: Swearinger says rules made him hit Keller low
 

You seems to forget I played the sport.... Each and every hit I made was where I intended it. I lead with my face mask and saw exactly what numbers i put it in. When I pulled and put my face mask in someone's ribs it was intentional.


If he didn't hit where he intended then he couldn't see because his helmet was down..... If it was an accident he would have said that... He didn't because as he said he chose to go low instead of high..... As if there wasn't a middle.

You can cut the crap... I don't play that "you don't know" game..... Everything I saw and heard tells me what I need to know to understand intent.

Re: Swearinger says rules made him hit Keller low
 

Lowering the helmet is a natural reaction. Its a brace for impact. He didn't spear him, so that's not a problem. Yeah, tackle with your eyes up, but that happens on every other tackle.

And there's no need to say something was an accident when you did nothing wrong in the 1st place. There is no penalty for going low. And like I said before, had he hit em in the torso he runs the risk of still drawing a flag for hitting a defenseless receiver because that's how ***** the game is getting. Not to mention the chance that Keller drops his head and there's an accidental helmet to helmet. How many times have we seen that B.S.

Come on over to the savage side Oak. You know you want to. Barbarians!

Re: Swearinger says rules made him hit Keller low
 

Just stop. It is not natural... Thats the biggest line of crap ive heard yet. Re-read my reply, I added to it.

I played.... Started on both sides of the ball for 7 years.

Re: Swearinger says rules made him hit Keller low
 

As did I, and if you're tackling low you lower your head in order to get down fast enough as to not just get ran over. How many times have we seen this tackle over the years and now in 2013 we've got a problem? Come on man. I'm watching the Colts Giants game now and a guy just did the same thing. And it was a DB, most of whom tackle low because they're usually the smallest people on the field. Nobody cares where they hit, as long as the hit brings the guy down.

Re: Swearinger says rules made him hit Keller low
 

Coaches teach you don't spear with the helmet so as to not break your neck. They tell you don't arm tackle. They tell you to wrap up. They tell you to drive through. But overall, they tell you to make the tackle. Never has any coach told a player not to go low, or perform the type of tackle he just did. No coach is going to sit in the film room, see that tackle, and be upset with it. That was a good tackle. No if's, and's, or buts. I want to see the Saints DB's making that tackle more routinely.

Re: Swearinger says rules made him hit Keller low
 

I think you guys can stop pissing, the fires been out for a while.