Report: NFL Changes Lowering-of-Helmet Rule After Having Trouble Fining Players | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats, and Rumors

David Rosenblum/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

A slight change in wording could adjust how the NFL enforces its unnecessary roughness rules on lowering the helmet.

As Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk noted, the 2022 rulebook states: “It is a foul if a player lowers his head and makes forcible contact with his helmet against an opponent.”

It’s a change from previous years that said a player had to initiate contact in order for it to be a violation, while the new version also added the word “forcible.”

According to Florio, the change came after being a “sticking point” in disputes over fines from the league. A player could argue they didn’t initiate the contact on a certain play, therefore negating any penalty.

This article will be updated soon to provide more information and analysis.

For more from Bleacher Report on this topic and from around the sports world, check out our B/R app, homepage and social feeds—including Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.