05-23-2018, 12:29 PM
(05-23-2018, 08:42 AM)Sled21 Wrote: Sorry, forgive me if this is a dumb question, but I never played line. How the hell can you play on either side of the line with your head down, making it impossible to see what your opposite number is doing anyway? Wouldn't an OT or OG need to have his eyes up to see what the D-linemen are doing, and wouldn't the D-linemen need to have their eyes up to see what the O linemen are doing?
(05-23-2018, 11:41 AM)sandwedge Wrote: You should have your eyes up, but short yardage or goal line is a big scrum, where low man wins. You don't want your head up or it will get taken off.
It is somewhat like two horned Rams battling it out in nature.
Their heads are down but they peer up at each other with their eyes to target each other and then just before impact they lower their heads enough to absorb the impact.
Depending on what kind of impact you are expecting, a lineman has to decide how much he wants to keep his head up, either a lot to just enough to peer if expecting a big collision.
If one guy slightly peers and then lowers like a horned Ram does in Nature while the other guy is mimicking the NFL Commissioner holding his "head up" to see, then the guy holding his head up Commissioner style is going to be hurting if he gets hit top of the helmet to facemask.
How high you hold up your head has to be on a case by case, play by play basis, depending on what is going on around you and you have to act quickly to position your head in the best way to absorb each unique blow.
