NFL news: League cracks down on helmet hits

Chris Chambers can see clearly now. The headaches are gone. So is the nausea.

The Dolphins' wide receiver sustained a concussion from a helmet-to-helmet hit from Denver's Kenoy Kennedy on Oct. 13.

The incident was one of three helmet-to-helmet hits in recent weeks -- and the NFL is paying attention to offenders and making them pay.

Jacksonville quarterback Mark Brunell sustained a concussion after a helmet-to-helmet hit by Tennessee cornerback Samari Rolle the same day as Chambers, and Oakland wide receiver Jerry Rice took a shot to the head last week from San Diego safety Rodney Harrison.

Former safety Mark Carrier, the first NFL player to be suspended for a helmet-to-helmet hit, said because the NFL wants to enforce the rule, and thus protect players, Kennedy and Harrison could be targeted by officials.

"(It's a) club that you don't want to be a part of because you get blackballed," said Carrier, who was suspended in September 1998 and September 2000 and is now a Fox TV commentator. "Once you've been targeted at that position, now anytime anything happens, the penalty becomes stiffer and stiffer."

It was the third offense for Kennedy and Harrison. Kennedy was suspended for last week's game against Kansas City and fined $25,294.11, bringing his total fines this year to $42,794.11 -- nearly 10 percent of his $430,000 base salary. Kennedy became the second player -- behind Carrier -- in NFL history to be suspended for such a hit. A week later, the elite club grew.

Last week, the NFL suspended Harrison -- he will miss Sunday's game against the New York Jets -- and fined him $111,764, one-17th of his $1.9 million base salary. The Chargers are appealing the penalty.

Rolle was fined only $7,500 because it was his first offense.

Part of the NFL's rule prohibiting helmet-to-helmet hits states: "Using any part of a player's helmet or face mask to violently and unnecessarily butt, spear or ram an opponent . . . is impermissible against any opponent."

Although the rule is clear, some -- including Dolphins safety Brock Marion -- say it isn't fair. Marion saw Kennedy's hit on Chambers and said he doesn't think Kennedy was wrong.

"Honestly, I'm going to hit him the exact same way," Marion said. "He just was trying to make a play. Was he trying to hit him? Yeah. That's what he gets paid to do."

Defensive players argue that they are not protected against offensive players leading with their helmets. And they wonder how else are they supposed to make a tackle.

"What are you supposed to do, jump out of his way?" Dolphins linebacker Zach Thomas said. "Then he runs for a score and you look stupid."

Offensive players, of course, side with offensive players. "We don't care if you get a big shot and knock the ball loose," Dolphins receiver James McKnight said. "But if a guy is in the air and is defenseless like Chris was, just don't take a cheap shot."