[Professor S]

One problem with how the league is addressing the subject of "illegal hits" is that they are enforcing it subjectively. Referees and the league fine and penalize on what they think is illegal, and worse, often the league fines for hits that were not penalized. Outside of leaving the feet, there are no real set guidelines, and any that exist are so complicated that you can't possibly think about it in the heat of a game that moves so fast.

The worst part is, you can't practice compliance to the current rules. There is no drill for recognizing when a receiver becomes a runner. All you have time to do is smash someone, or not smash someone, that that is exactly what you are seeing. Players are either ignoring the rules completely, or they are playing so safe that they are ineffective at their job.

Easy fix: All tacklers must wrap/TACKLE. No shoulder hits or elbow shivers. No human missiles at all. There will still be violent hits, but the impact is spread cross a far greater area (chest/arms/shoulders/facemask), lessening the trauma. The important part is that YOU CAN PRACTICE THIS TYPE OF TACKLING. You can drill it and drill it until it becomes muscle memory and no thinking is involved, just reaction. They did this YEARS ago in rugby and it was incredibly successful.