Roger Goodell Stresses Player Safety

National Football League Blogcast, NFL Blogcast

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell sent a memo to all 32 teams today. Actually, he e-mailed the memo to team executives, coaches and general managers and told them to read or distribute it to every player on their team. I’m guessing they slapped it on every player’s locker:

“Player safety on the field is important to all of us in the NFL. Football is a tough game and we need to do everything possible to protect all players — offense, defense, and special teams — from unnecessary injury caused by illegal and dangerous hits. From this point forward, you should be clear on the following point: Any conduct that unnecessarily risks the safety of other players has no role in the game of football and will be disciplined at increased levels, including on a first offense. Playing by the rules shows respect for your fellow players. No one wants to see unnecessary injuries. Let’s have a safe and exciting 2008 season.”

The Commissioner might be on the verge of handing out fines and suspensions for illegal hits (technically, I guess NFL Executive Vice President of Football Operations Ray Anderson would take care of that), but so far this season, he only nailed Bucs cornerback Elbert Mack (one game suspension) for his helmet-to-helmet hit on Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan. I guess that was enough to prompt this memo.

Source: NFL Media