NFL Rule (1 Viewer)

[hellz_fireflies]

Monday nite watching the Ravens at Bengals..my wife saw this Bengal defense player with long red hair almost to his butt..she asked me is it legal to pull him down by the hair. I really don't know..is it legal or like a face mask penalty? TY for reply!

 

[Angrymutt]

I believe they changed the rule last year. Might be wrong. To pully

 

[guitarmonkiy]

Monday nite watching the Ravens at Bengals..my wife saw this Bengal defense player with long red hair almost to his butt..she asked me is it legal to pull him down by the hair. I really don't know..is it legal or like a face mask penalty? TY for reply!

I'm fairly certain it is legal. This was an issue that occurred last year when LJ tackled Troy Polamalu by his hair after an interception/fumble recovery (don't remember which). I believe the ruling was that the hair was considered part of the uniform or something like that.

 

[mad sweeney]

I believe it's considered a body part and fair game. IIRC correctly there was a tackle last year where a long hair was pulled down by the hair out of bounds. No flag. But when the defender got up he hauled the longhair up by the handful of hair and he got an unnecessary roughness for the pulling after the play. But I am 99.5% sure that if you want your hair long you better be prepared to get it pulled.

And have you noticed that a vast number of helmets getting knocked off occur to players with braids/dreads? Talk about fashion over safety.

eta: guitar monkey's example is what I was thinking of. No prob with pulling him down by the hair, foul for not letting go after the play was dead.

 

[zadok]

It's legal as far as I know - the "Ricky Williams" tackle.

 

[hellz_fireflies]

Thanks guys..I told her it's legal. Player was Defensive Tackle: Domata Peko on Bengals

 

[Koya]

It IS legal and was discussed a bunch with Polamalu in a game last year. FWIW, it is a good rule. Otherwise, having long hair that got in the way of your uniform would be an unfair advantage.

 

[Angrymutt]

i was wrong.

i'm an idiot.

i never followed the rules.