Sports Illustrated: NFL expected to discuss helmet hits

                One might imagine that in a game of football, it is a no-hands-barred where players fling their entire bodies in attempts to stop quarterbacks or running backs in their tracks. While certainly hits are still an integral part of the game, there have been regulations and additional discussions as to the manner of the hits. “NFL Expected to Discuss Helmet Hits”, an article from Sports Illustrated, takes a holistic examination at what is going on currently and what regulations may be passed in the near future regarding the dangerous practice of “launching”.

NFL officials are drawing the line when it comes to a form of hitting in football known as launching, in which a player leaps with both feet and attacks a player onto his helmet. Currently, flagrant helmet hits result in a 15 yard penalty for the instigator. The first implementation of this program came about with Steelers’ James Harrison’s hit on Browns quarterback Colt McCoy. As a result, Harrison was suspended for a week.

Officials are noting progress in terms of less risky hits, as more and more players are starting to hit with their shoulders and not leading into helmets or heads. Atlanta Falcons President Rich McKay, who is also the co-chairman of NFL’s competition committee, notes that this regulation and stop on helmet hitting would also protect those instigating as well. "When we are trying to deal with an issue like the launch, we are trying to protect the runner and the hitter," he said. "Some hits, a defensive player is leading with his head and not using his arms and really is exposing himself to injury as a flagrant foul is committed."

As a more varied source of information for this Article of the Week, there was actually a rhetorical style and arrangement very similar to the ones found in more “professional” sources, such as the New York Times and TIME Magazine.  A very formal write-up included elements of establishing ethos, logos (facts and figures about helmet hits), as well as a certain pathos when discussing the overall protection and safety of the NFL players. Perhaps the most useful rhetorical device used was the definition arrangement; by going through each part of the regulation, such as defining “launching” or “defenseless players”, Sports Illustrated presents an article that even those unaware of the specificities of football can understand and appreciate.