NFL Head to Head Hitting Rules

As concern has grown over the lasting effects of concussions and other head trauma suffered by its players, the National Football League has been cracking down on one of the leading causes of such injuries. A head-to-head hit, more commonly known as helmet-to-helmet contact, is no longer tolerated in the NFL. That has been made clear in the league's rule book: The helmet is not to be used as a weapon.

  1. Hitting a Player

    • In most instances, helmet-to-helmet collisions that are intentional or that could have been avoided will be considered unnecessary roughness, subject to a 15-yard penalty on the player, usually the defender, who initiated the contact. Incidental contact won't necessarily be flagged, though. For example, if a defender goes to tackle a runner, and the players' helmets bump, it may not rise to the level of unnecessary roughness if the defender didn't lead with his helmet and was not using the helmet as a weapon. Incidental contact is a judgment call for the officials.

    Hitting the Passer

    • NFL rules give quarterbacks special protection when they drop back to pass. If any part of a defender's helmet, including the face mask, comes in contact with any part of a quarterback's helmet, an official can flag the defender for roughing the passer. This is a personal foul that carries a 15-yard penalty. The helmet-to-helmet contact does not have to be intentional, and it does not even have to be hard. Incidental contact is enough to draw a personal foul. And unlike other instances of roughing the passer, a helmet-to-helmet foul can be called even if the quarterback still had the ball when the defender hit him.

      When the quarterback is not acting as a passer--when he is clearly running the ball, for example, or if he has recovered a fumble--these protections don't apply. The QB is considered "just another player" in these instances, and incidental contact won't be penalized. If such an exception were not made, it would be almost impossible to stop a quarterback sneak.

      Even this exception has an exception, however. On a turnover--a fumble or interception--the QB suddenly becomes a "defensive player," but no opponent can initiate even incidental helmet-to-helmet contact with him until he has assumed a "distinctly defensive position." The object of this provision is to keep teams from targeting the QB for a shot to the head immediately after a turnover.

    Flagrant Fouls

    • Following a number of helmet-to-helmet blows that drew fines in 2007, the league office began instructing game officials to kick players out of games for "flagrant" hits. Those are what officials judge to be severe, "conspicuous" and possibly intentional. According to an NFL memo, the league was particularly concerned about hits on "defenseless" players, such as a receiver that stretches out to try to catch a pass. In a one well-known case, Carolina Panthers cornerback Dante Wesley was thrown out of a 2009 game--and later fined nearly $40,000 and suspended for a game--after a flagrant helmet-to-helmet hit on Tampa Bay Buccaneers punt returner Clifton Smith, who was waiting to field a punt. The league's point of emphasis is not that you can't hit a defenseless player at all--you certainly can--but that you can't go helmet-to-helmet on him.