San Francisco 49ers star cornerback Richard Sherman has never afraid to speak his mind, and he wants to make it clear he is not happy with the direction the NFL is heading, especially for players on defense.
The new tackling rule has made it tough for defensive players, and it seems you can't even touch a quarterback without fear of giving up a 15-yard penalty and a fine.
Article Continues Below“You can't touch him. You can't tackle him. You can't hit him high, can't hit him low. You can't knock him down to the ground hard … all that. You can't hit a receiver too high, you can't hit him low, you can't push him. You can barely press him. It's making it really difficult on teams to combat it because every rule in the book is designed to make sure you don't get them stopped.”
“They're just trying to make it impossible for guys to play defense,” Sherman said via ESPN. “It's an interesting league we play in.”
Sherman also said that the NFL wanted it to be a quarterback league, and that is precisely what they are getting. Sherman points out that an average quarterback rating now is right around 92, which used to be Hall of Fame type numbers, but now that is just an average player in this league.
In an era where fantasy football is king, the NFL is turning into an offensive league, and Sherman seems to be right, there is no right way to play defense anymore without risking a penalty.