Horse-collar tackle
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The horse-collar tackle is an American football tackle in which a defender grabs the back inside of an opponent's shoulder pads and yanks the ball-carrier downwards, a technique which has been used for decades. The tackle was banned from the NFL during the 2005 offseason.
Following the 2004-2005 season, the NFL's Competition Committee reviewed video of the entire season and concluded that the horse-collar tackle resulted in six serious injuries, most notably to Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Terrell Owens, who suffered a severely sprained ankle and a broken fibula after a horse-collar tackle. On May 23, 2005, NFL owners voted 27-5 to ban the tackle. The dissenting votes were cast by Dallas (Cowboys player Roy Williams tackled Owens and caused the injury), San Francisco, Detroit, New England and New Orleans. The tackle was outlawed because, due to the position it brings down the body of the player getting tackled, he will often fall upon one (or sometimes both) legs under his body, quite often completely tearing one or both of the player's anterior cruciate ligaments (the other knee ligaments are often at great risk as well). The ban states that a horse-collar tackle is an open-field tackle in which a defender uses the shoulder pads to immediately bring a ballcarrier down. The term "open field" means that horse-collar tackles committed near the line of scrimmage will be allowed; in addition, the stipulation of "immediately bringing the ballcarrier down" means that, if a defender begins to bring a player down by the shoulder pads but lets go before the tackle is completed, he will not be penalized.
Any player committing the horse-collar tackle faces a possible league-imposed fine in addition to being penalized 15 yards on the play.
[edit] Reaction to the Ban
This ban has come under heavy scrutiny from fans and NFL management alike for myriad reasons. Fans object to it because, along with the league's decision not to alter the controversial tuck rule and the league's recent enforcement emphasis on illegal contact by defenders, it is another example of NFL rules enforcement that appears to favor the offense. Others object because it appears to target one player: Dallas Cowboys safety Roy Williams, who was involved in four of the six serious injuries caused by the horse-collar tackle in 2005. "I really hate the fact that the rule is kind of being named for one player," said Atlanta Falcons team president Rich McKay, who co-chaired the competition committee (the rule having become commonly known as the "Roy Williams Rule" among the sports media). "Roy Williams is a good player and, according to the rules that existed [in 2004], he didn't do anything that was illegal. We try not to punish one player, but rather to address the future of that kind of tackle. And, as a committee, we were nervous about it." Cowboys owner Jerry Jones voted against the new rule because he was concerned about ambiguities, adding, "I'd rather it had been a fine and it not gotten to the penalty phase."
