Home>Sports>Football>Football Penalties A horse collar is a penalty in American football called on a defensive player in the process of attempting to tackle the ball carrier. The horse collar penalty is called when the tackling player grabs the ball carrier’s collar and pulls them toward the ground. A horse collar tackle is illegal due to the risk of injury to the neck. A horse collar penalty is called when a defensive player grabs another player by the inside collar of the back or side of their jersey or shoulder pads in an effort to bring them to the ground. The runner does not need to go to the ground for this penalty to be called as long as there is an attempt to bring them down. If the ball carrier’s knees simply buckle due to this illegal act, it is a penalty for the offender. The result of this penalty in the NFL is a personal foul, a loss of 15 yards, and an automatic first down. A defensive player can grab the upper back side of a runner’s jersey without being penalized at the referee’s discretion. This can occur if the defender releases the jersey quickly without pulling on it, thus offering little or no risk to the ball carrier. Notably, it is also not illegal to perform a horse-collar tackle on a quarterback who is in the pocket. The horse collar was a legal play in the NFL until 2005. The banning of the play came in response to a number of horrible injuries throughout the NFL due to the horse collar tackle in 2004. Dallas Cowboy safety Roy Williams notoriously used the horse collar tackle as a technique when he entered the NFL in 2002. Williams was responsible for causing a number of injuries through the use of this tackling technique in 2004 alone. Most notable among them was in a game with the Philadelphia Eagles when he used the horse collar tackle to bring Eagle’s Pro Bowl wide receiver Terrell Owens backward to the ground and, in the process, Owens suffered a broken leg.
In all American football leagues, the result of a horse collar tackle is a 15-yard penalty. It also may result in an automatic first down for the offense. In high school football, the penalty does not award an automatic first down. To signal a horse collar penalty, the referee will make a fist with their hand, raise their fist toward their collar, and make a downward pulling motion. Examples
Similar Penalties To Horse Collar
A horse collar penalty in football is a 15-yard penalty assessed for tackling a runner by grabbing them by the side or rear collar of their shoulder pads or jersey. In order for the foul to occur, the offending player must pull the other player toward the ground, although they are not required to be tackled. A horse collar penalty is a personal foul, and it results in an automatic first down. Can you horse collar tackle anyone legally in the NFL?According to NFL rules, while a horse collar tackle is illegal when performed on a ball carrier or runner, it is a legal means of tackling against some players. For example, the rule against horse collar tackles does not apply to quarterbacks who are in the pocket or a runner who is within the tackle box. These players can be tackled legally with a horse collar. Since a horse collar tackle is illegal in football and a penalty, it cannot be challenged by coaches after it is called. However, as with all penalties in the NFL, coaches can challenge the enforcement of the penalty, such as yardage or the spot of the foul. The history of the horse collar rule is actually quite short and modern. It has sometimes been called the Roy William's rule after the famous Dallas Cowboy Safety who was known to use the illegal technique after the rule was created to penalize and thus discourage. The rule against the horse collar tackle, where a player is pulled down from behind by grabbing the uniform near the neck, was enacted in May 2005 after three such tackles by Williams in the 2004 season and another in preseason caused injuries. Dallas Cowboys safety Roy Williams grabbed then Washington Redskins running back Clinton Portis in the first quarter of their NFL game at Texas Stadium in Irving, Texas, September 19, 2005. Thus, Williams was suspended for one game for committing his third horse-collar tackle of the season, the National Football League said. The NFL made the penalty for an offense of horse collar tackling a 15-yard personal foul in 2005. The horse collar rule first went into effect in college in 2008 and a year later the high school level's most prevalent governing rules body for football the NFHS, instituted the rule in 2009. File:Bailey Johnson is called for a horse collar tackle mod.jpg Example of a horse-collar tackle made by an Iowa State player. The tackler's right hand has grabbed the runner's collar and is using it to pull him down from behind. The horse-collar tackle is an American football maneuver in which a defender tackles another player by grabbing the back-inside of an opponent's shoulder pads. The technique is most closely associated with Pro Bowl safety Roy Williams. This kind of tackle was banned from the NFL during the 2005 offseason. The rule forbidding it is often referred to in the press as "The Roy Williams Rule".[1] The rule, with modifications, was adopted in college football in 2008 and high school football in 2009. HistoryThe horse-collar tackle rose to infamy during the 2004 NFL season, in which it was implicated for six major injuries, four of which were caused by Williams, including two in one game. The injuries that season included broken legs for Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Terrell Owens, Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb, Baltimore Ravens running back Musa Smith, and Tennessee Titans wide out Tyrone Calico. On May 23, 2005, NFL owners voted 27–5 to ban the tackle, with the Dallas Cowboys, Detroit Lions, New England Patriots, New Orleans Saints, and San Francisco 49ers voting against.[1] The first year of the ban, only two penalties were called by referees for the horse-collar tackle. Owners voted 25–7 in 2006 to expand the rule to include tackles by the back of the jersey in addition to tackles by the shoulder pads.[2] RisksThe horse-collar is particularly dangerous due to the awkward position of the player being tackled, who will often fall backward in a twisting motion with one or both legs trapped under the weight of his body. This is exacerbated if the player's foot gets caught in the turf and by the additional weight of the defender. Potential injuries include sprains or tears to ligaments in the knees and ankles (including the ACL and MCL), and fractures of the tibia and fibula.[3] The ban states that a horse-collar tackle is an open-field tackle in which a defender uses the shoulder pads or jersey to immediately bring a ball carrier down. The term "open field" means that horse-collar tackles committed near the line of scrimmage will be allowed; in addition, the stipulation of "immediately bringing the ball carrier down" means that, if a defender begins to bring a player down by the shoulder pads but lets go before the tackle is completed, he will not be penalized.[citation needed] PunishmentIn the NFL, the horse-collar tackle results in a 15-yard personal foul penalty and an automatic first down if committed by the defense (penalty also will be enforced even if the opposing offense gains yards). It will often also result in a league-imposed fine on the player. Roy Williams was the first player suspended for repeated violations of the rule. The one-game suspension was given following a horse-collar tackle on Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb that occurred on December 16, 2007, and it was Williams' third violation of the rule of the 2007 season.[4] The tackle was made illegal in the CFL for the 2007 season. [5] The horse collar tackle was legal through the 2007–2008 season in college football but was banned by the NCAA after criticism from pundits and coaches for the 2008–2009 season as part of a package that adopted several NFL rules into the college game.[6] The National Federation of State High School Associations added a penalty for horse-collar tackles for the 2009 season.[7] References |