The Hit on Malone

[Fan_in_Kettering]

NFL Rules: Definition of Defenseless Receiver:

A receiver attempting to catch a pass who has not had time to clearly become a runner. If the player is capable of avoiding or warding off the impending contact of an opponent, he is no longer a defenseless player.

NFL Rules: Prohibited Contact

Prohibited contact against a player who is in a defenseless posture is:

Forcibly hitting the defenseless player’s head or neck area with the helmet, facemask, forearm, or shoulder, even if the initial contact is lower than the player’s neck, and regardless of whether the defensive player also uses his arms to tackle the defenseless player by encircling or grasping him lowering the head and making forcible contact with the crown or ”hairline” parts of the helmet against any part of the defenseless player’s body illegally launching into a defenseless opponent. It is an illegal launch if a player (i) leaves both feet prior to contact to spring forward and upward into his opponent, and (ii) uses any part of his helmet to initiate forcible contact against any part of his opponent’s body. (This does not apply to contact against a runner, unless the runner is still considered to be a defenseless player, as defined in Article 7.)

Good call!