Stiff Arm

[mojo chiefs]

Why can a rb ,qb ,wr,get to use a stiff arm or hand to the face to defend a possible tackler but the o-line gets called.

Why does a def guy get called for face mask when the off player who has the ball use it to defend tacklers?

Rules on this?

[slickvick]

In Defense of the Stiff Arm

By Michael David Smith

 

Few more beautiful sights exist on a football field than a running back using a stiff arm to ward off a linebacker. There’s a reason that when sculptor Frank Eliscu created football’s most famous trophy, he used a pose of a ball carrier sticking out his arm to keep an opponent at bay.

 

But the N.F.L. has decided that stiff arms are going too far.

 

Charean Williams of The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports that the league will emphasize to officials this season that stiff arms to the face should result in a 15-yard penalty. N.F.L. rules already say that “hands cannot be thrust forward above the frame to contact an opponent on the neck, face or head,” so the instruction to officials to call such penalties is not a rules change, just a point of emphasis. The league’s Competition Committee believes that the rule has not been adequately enforced in the past.

 

Said Titans coach Jeff Fisher, co-chairman of the Competition Committee, “We try to give the benefit of the doubt to the defense. When (offensive players) do stiff arm, they’ve got to be careful about going to the face.”

 

I’m all for rules intended to protect players, but the N.F.L. sometimes goes too far with those rules, and this is one of those times. Tough, physical running is a part of football, and a ball carrier who can effectively hold the ball in one hand while using the other to prevent tacklers from getting hold of him should be rewarded, not punished.

 

Marion Barber of the Cowboys is one of the most thrilling running backs to watch precisely because he’s so physical: Rather than avoiding contact, he initiates it. Thomas Jones of the Jets brought the fans at the Meadowlands to their feet with a stiff arm against the Dolphins last season. Leonard Weaver of the Seahawks actually made a preseason game interesting for a brief moment with a stiff arm against the Colts in 2006. Does the N.F.L. really want to negate such exciting plays by turning them into penalties?

 

If it does, it deserves to be derided as the No Fun League. The stiff arm is a tactic as old as football itself, and it ought to be celebrated.

 

Michael David Smith also writes for FanHouse, Pro Football Talk, College Football Talk,Football Outsiders and The New York Sun.

[Chavez]

Jamal Anderson had a WICKED stiff arm. Beautiful to watch.

 

I think this is one of those where it should be an exception to the rule; legal up to the point where the offensive player grabs the facemask.

[Seahawks21]

I can't recall anybody being hurt by a stiff-arm. It is a technique that backs practice since they are young. As long as they don't grab, I don't see anything wrong with it. I mean, for a back, there are 11 guys chasing him, it is really the only weapon he has besides raw elusiveness.

[Scooby's Hubby]

and the Refs are also full of it when it comes to the horsecollar rule. I have seen many of those go uncalled this year

[Scooby's Hubby]

the stiff arm provides a space between the tackler and runner, so that the runner can fight back. Not all RBs are good at this, but I have to say that Emmit Smith is underrated in the stiff arm category, even with a bad shoulder.

[Glabra]

speaking of stiffarms, I have a feeling we might be seeing a lot more of

, in the coming weeks Edited November 1, 2009 by Glabra

[Ursa Majoris]

Rugby players know how to counteract a stiffarm. If NFL players ever find out, there will be a lot of RBs walking around with their arms in slings.