Why Has Tackling Gotten So Bad Over The Years?

[ProfessaPackMan]

Why do you think a basic art such as Tackling has gotten so bad over the years?

I mean we've all seen over the years where simple 2-3 yd plays turn into 40-50 yd TD plays because a simple art such as wrapping up and tackling your man. Slickdtc brought up a great point in the QB Thread in that it's gotten to the point where we actually celebrate when a basic tackle is made out here now SMH.

But yea, I'm curious to know others thoughts on why something so simple as tackling has gotten worse over the years.

[TheMatrix31]

Perhaps people are accustomed to hitting rather than tackling, and since they're cracking down on hitting, it kills it altogether?

Not sure.

[CM Hooe]

I'd place blame on a number of things, in no particular order (not these three things exclusively, mind you, there are probably other good reasons tackling is a lost art):

• Less physical practices. That old adage "they don't teach tackling anymore" rings true to an extent.
• The SportsCenter culture. The only way a defender really gets highlight reel recognition nowadays is with a game-changing play, be it a sack, interception, forced fumble, or big hit. I venture that some defenders look to lay the wood to see their name in the lights. No one truly glorifies a form tackle.
• Confusion over what is a legal tackle. This largely in part due to the NFL constantly changing rules with regard to unnecessary roughness.
• The lockout. Perhaps defenses aren't quite up to speed with where they normally are by week one, and as such players were caught more obviously out of position this past week and this resulted in more missed tackles.

[Senator Palmer]

I think its twofold. Professional coaches don't emphasis the art of wrapping and taking a player to the ground anymore. I've been to my share of pro practices, and what you see is a lot of thumping, but no real wrapping up of ball carriers. You go an watch a run period, defenders run to the ball, but the running back is untouched.

The second, a probably biggest one, is the lack of padded practices. Jimmy Johnson used to keep the Cowboys in pads right into December, now with the new CBA, you're getting one padded practice a week, and that physicality showed up on Sundays and deep into the playoffs. There is something to be said about conditioning the body to dish and receive blows. It's a delicate balancing act, because you want your athletes to recover during the week, but you don't want them to lose that edge. So, if Monday is a day players come in for treatment and a lift, Tuesday is a day off, Wednesday you're in pads, and Thursday, Friday, you're in shells and traveling. That's three whole days your body goes without contact and it shows up on gameday. This year, there was I'm pretty sure, less contact than ever, and it showed opening weekend.

[untrugby]

Roy Williams... its all his fault

[mestevo]

Finesse is hard, brute force is easy. Players getting stronger and faster, it's easier to just hit and hope.

[Jistic]

1. Money
2. Lack of full contact practice
3. Emphasis on turnovers
4. The highlight reel mentality

[SPTO]

I basically agree with most of the posters here but i'll add the fact that there was a time about hm 15ish years ago where the prevailing thought was that since players are getting bigger and stronger that going for the "hit" rather than wrapping guys would lead to more success because some of the more physically gifted players could get themselves away from the traditional wrap up tackle. This is true to an extent but going for the hit rather than tackling guys has gotten to be so prevalent that it has taken away from the art of actually tackling.

You add the fact that most coaches can't be bothered to teach the essentials and i'm not just talking NFL coaches but college coaches have a lot to say in this as well and you see a distinct lack of fundamentals.

I'm not saying going for the classic tackle 100% of the time is the way to go but there definitely needs to be all sorts of techniques employed.