The NFL released this week a video narrated by NFL VP of football operations Ray Anderson that identifies legal and illegal hits in the NFL. Kansas City Chiefs head coach Todd Haley said he got the video yesterday and he would show it to the team today.
In the video they show Jarrad Page -- when he was with the Chiefs -- legally hit Giants receiver Steve Smith last year. The league used this as an example of how to hit someone the right way. This footage was from last year so they went back looking for it.
I originally thought that was not the play in which Page was penalized but some folks on Twitter reminded me that, yes, it is.
The league's example of how to hit correctly could also get you penalized. Indeed Page was slapped with a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty on the play they show in the video.
I think that's where the problem lies -- confusion. Hell, I read about the NFL all day and I'm confused. If the officials, those who are paid to apply the rule book, can't always identify an illegal hit -- and this isn't a knock on them, it's just reality of a fast-paced game -- then why are they going to potentially suspend guys and ramp up the fines even more?
The NFL is sending a player like Jarrad Page two different messages and I can see how this would be very confusing. We'll see if the Chiefs players understand the exact rules and they're not penalized for a play that is actually a textbook hit, as Page's was.