NFL owners approve rule banning the hip-drop tackle

ORLANDO — The NFL is eliminating the hip-drop tackle as team owners Monday unanimously approved a rule that bans players from using a swivel technique to tackle an opponent.

A violation will result in a 15-yard penalty and ultimately could result in fines for players. The NFL said the hip-drop tackle was used 230 times last season and resulted in 15 players missing time with injuries. The NFL Players Association opposed the rule.

“It doesn’t get used very often, but when it is used, it’s incredibly injurious,” said NFL Competition Committee chairman Rich McKay, CEO of the Falcons. “The runner is purely defenseless. And I have heard defenders say it before, and I hear them, ‘Hey, you’re putting me in a really tough spot. You’re saying I can’t hit here. What do I do?’ And my response has always been, ‘Well, you can’t do that, and that’s just because the guy you’re hitting is defenseless and has no way to protect himself.’ So ... you’ve got to come up with other ways. And you know what? They do.”

The league played a video during a news conference to show six specific plays in which the hip-drop tackle was used in games.

Two other proposals were approved. Teams now will receive a third challenge following one successful challenge; previously, teams had to be successful on two challenges to get a third. In addition, if there is a double foul during a down in which there is a change or changes of possession, including if one of the fouls is a post-possession foul by a team during a scrimmage kick, the team last gaining possession will keep the ball after enforcement for its foul, if it did not foul before last gaining possession.

PHELAN M. EBENHACK/AP Falcons CEO and NFL Competition Committee chairman Rich McKay explains the rules changes to reporters Monday — including the banning of the hip-drop tackle — at the NFL owners meetings in Orlando, Florida.