What is Hip-Drop tackle in football? Is it getting banned?

The technique which has led to several NFL players being injured over the years could potentially be banned by the NFL.

What is Hip-Drop tackle in football? Is it getting banned?

Mark Andrews (via NBC Sport)

The NFL has been receiving pleas from fans to either ban the hip-drop tackle or find ways to make it safer. This comes after the tackle was the reason that led to Mark Andrews, TE of the Baltimore Ravens sustaining a season-ending injury last week. More recently, Florida State University’s Jordan Travis sustained a serious leg injury due to the hip-drop tackle.

First, let’s understand what constitutes a hip-drop tackle. It is a move when a defensive player drops their body weight upon the opponent’s legs in order to get them to lose balance and bring them down on their legs. The issue here is that when a 200+ pound defensive player puts their entire weight onto quarterbacks who are usually lighter and not as strong as they are, it leads to the QB’s legs having to handle the weight of his body and the defender’s body as well.

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The hip-drop tackle leads to QBs landing on the side of their legs, this can prove fatal as if the weight falls on their ankle, the risk of injury is significantly higher. As a defensive player, their purpose is to bring the QB down and while the hip-drop tackle is an effective way of doing it, the method leaves the person being tackled susceptible to serious injury.

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Hip-drop tackles increase rate of injury by up to 25%

Rich McKay, the Chairman of the NFL Competition Committee compared the hip-drop tackle to the banned horse-collar tackle by terming it as its cousin. The biggest issue faced by league officials is what constitutes a legal hip-drop tackle and one that is illegal.

Tony Pollard
Tony Pollard (via NinersNation)

NFL’s Executive VP of Communications, Jeff Miller had stated in a league meeting last month that hip-drop tackles increase the odds of players being injured by up to 25%. So, does this mean the hip-drop will be banned? The NFL is seriously considering a ban on this technique, however, they are facing resistance from the NFLPA which is voicing the struggles that defensive players will face if such a move were to be implemented.

Restrictions imposed on defensive players in order to protect quarterbacks and receivers have never been tighter and it is pretty challenging for defenders to bring the opponent down if the league keeps banning one technique after the other. In the heat of the game, when a defensive player is rushing the QB, he has just one thing on his mind and that is to bring the man down, he would not have time to figure out which way to do it best so as to not be penalized for it.

The NFLPA had stated:

Any prohibition on the 'hip-drop-tackle' technique is unfair to players and unrealistic to implement.

They echoed the aforementioned sentiments and said:

It places defensive players in an impossible position by creating indecision in the mind of any tackling player, puts officials in an unreasonable situation that will result in inconsistent calls on the field, and confuses our fans.

Take a look at the above play, when Patrick Mahomes is tackled using the hip-drop technique, his leg collapses and he lands in an awkward manner. This is not even the most dangerous part, the defender’s entire weight is upon him and he lands knee-first on Mahomes’ ankle which could prove disastrous.

Take a look at Tony Pollard going down due to the hip-drop tackle, and watch how Jimmie Ward’s entire body weight is shifted on Pollard’s leg when he goes down. That is such a vulnerable position and when Pollard is running at a fast pace and suddenly, the weight fell on his leg in that extended position, it led to him being ruled out for the rest of the season.

The league is still on the fence when it comes to imposing a ban on the technique, in 2005, the horse-collar tackle was banned when it led to a series of injuries in previous seasons. For now, Rich McKay has said that the the league is still trying “to find a way to regulate,” the tackle without it becoming confusing for officials and fans.

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