Banging Your Head Against A Brick Wall: What will it take for the NFL to act on deliberate head shots?

I watched my favorite NFL team win and lose yesterday. One the scoreboard things looked just fine for the Philadelphia Eagles; notching up a convincing 31-17 win over a very good Atlanta Falcons team. Kevin Kolb had an excellent day at the office too, in his second start in place of injured Michael Vick, completing 23 of 29 passes for 326 yards and three touchdowns. Nothing to worry about... right?

Wrong! Some chump deliberately targeted DeSean Jackson's head with a helmet-to-helmet shot that left him unmoving on the ground and with a severe concussion. That's not football, that's a cheap shot, one that should be stamped out in football. It has absolutely no place in the NFL. I'm not talking about accidents, after all, this is a contact sport. I am talking about a premeditated smash to the head of an unprotected player. A hit that is meant to take an opponent out. DeSean has the right to play his game for as long as he can and wants too, not to have his career cut short by some gorilla in a uniform with a head like cement.

The only way for Roger Goodell and the NFL brass to handle this rash of head high hits is to suspend players, from a couple of games to indefinitely if it continues. Players need to be protected and concussion is becoming a big issue. Again, this is no namby-pamby sport, is not pick flowers in the park on Sunday afternoon! But, there have to be some common-sense boundaries. Coach Tony Dungy said that fining players will not change the culture, but if a player is missing from the line-up then that cripples a team, and minds will change. Both coaches and players have to take this seriously.

DeSean Jackson wasn't the only victim either, his tackler Dunta Robinson even concussed himself, hopefully causing him to not try that maneuver again; ever! Two other vicious hits by James Harrison of the Steelers; his helmet-to-helmet shot against Cleveland receiver Mohamed Massaquoi will certainly have serious repercussions, and it's incredible not one official flagged the hitting a defenseless receiver. In New England, Brandon Meriweather belting Baltimore's Todd Heap with a hit to the head so vicious that either a mouthguard or some fragment flew high into the air at the moment of impact. Come on people! Get real!

The helmet and pads were provided to football players for safety reasons. The were not supplied for the purposes of becoming a human missile. I have played and watched rugby union and rugby league for years and they don't wear protective equipment except for the mandatory mouthguard and occasionally, soft headgear. But you don't see anywhere near the head contact int hose two sports which are as tough as any, because the players don't use their helmeted heads and padded shoulders to purposefully take out an opponent. Times, they are a changing, and not a moment to soon. If I was DeSean Jackson or Coach Andy Reid, I'd be looking at suing Dunta Robinson and the Falcons, for medical costs and time lost due to a dangerous hit!