The NFL and NFL Players Association have adopted a new formula that calls for a one-game suspension when a player commits three violations of the same specific safety rule.
The system potentially carries violations over from one year to the next, for the purposes of identifying the third offense as to five specific (hip-drop tackles, horse-collar tackles, launching, hits on defenseless players, and blindside blocks).
All players enter the year with a clean slate, as to all on-field violations. (Previously, violations remained relevant to determining enhanced discipline for 34 regular-season games.)
If a player has only one violation in a given season, he enters the next year with a clean slate.
If a player has two violations in the same year, one violation carries over to the next season. If there is no violation in the next season, he resets to zero for the following year. (If he has one violation in the second season, he’ll carry one violation into the third year.)
If a player has three violations, he receives a one-game suspension. He’ll be suspended for each additional violation that same year.
He’ll then carry two violations into the next year. This means that he remains on the brink of another suspension for the next full season after the season in which he was suspended. If he has no violations in the next season, he resets to zero for the following year.
It’s a little confusing, but the teams will surely be keeping close track of each player’s status as to the five categories of infractions that can lead to a suspension. The media also will be keeping tabs on the various violations, so that it will be generally known if/when a player is facing a third strike — and a suspension.
As noted last night, the new formula would have resulted in only one suspension in 2024 and one in 2025. And that was without the threat of a suspension. Ideally, those players who get to two violations of any of the five rules will know the consequences of a third one — and avoid committing it at all costs.
