NFL to players: "Go low"

The NFL has decided that all "devastating hits" and "head shots," (ESPN) will result in suspensions for every incident, first time offender or not.

If there is anyone out there that disagrees with a fine/suspension for a head-to-head hit, I hope you take a shot to the chin. Okay, I don't, really, but c'mon, this is an issue. While I don't quite understand what a "devastating hit" is, I do understand head-to-head. I took several shots to the head -- from another's head -- while playing. I still have the headaches to prove it.

But the "devastating hits" is ridiculous. Does that mean broken ribs? Stingers? Really, that is way too ambiguous to regulate.

It reminds me of the crackdown on "blindside" hits that resulted from the Steelers' Hines Ward. More often than not, Ward led with a shoulder. Was it to the head? Yeah, it was. Was it devastating? Yeah, it was. Was it illegal? Well, it ended up being so. But at least we had an example.

What gets me is what we expect from these leagues. Do we want them to be gladiator-like? Do we want them to be human-plus? (Human-plus being what an average Joe can do but better.)

I, for one, love my NFL football to be violent. Sure, I cringe when I see a Khaseem Greene-type situation. I have been close to that situation. I have hit the ground with no feeling. Anywhere. (My first thought was that my mom would kill me. My second thought was convulsive tears.)

I agree with the NFL: Head shots are horrible. But what is a "devastating hit?"

I hope the league figures this out. I don't want to see any more Greene-type situations. Every time I see it, I can't help but think of Mike Utley. What Mike has done is, well, phenomenal. But I can't help but imagine a life uninterrupted.

Utley is what the NFL wants to avoid, and I can't blame them. But at what price? The joke is that QB's are already wearing skirts, are receivers and tight ends next?

It's a controversial and, basically, mean stance to say that you choose your way of life. But when it comes to professional athletics, it's true.

Yet, for as much as I love a hit over the middle, a glimpse at Mike Utley, the viewing of Khaseem Greene's hit, my own non-feeling, it all makes for a head-dropping feeling. Gladiators are relics of the past for a reason. These are people. These are sons, fathers, brothers. Let them complete their most basic roles in life before we make them into a modern day Maximus.