In 2021, the NFL expanded prohibition against blocking below the waist. Now, the NFL wants to eliminate all low blocks as a safety measure.
“The low block below the knee needs to be removed from the game,” NFL executive Troy Vincent said Wednesday. “You look at high school, you look at college, too. Every block should be above the knee, but below the neck. All the work that we’ve done for the head and neck area — all the things that we’ve taken out of the game — this is the right time for us to remove the low block out of the game. Be consistent with high school. Be consistent with college. Every block should be above the knee and below the neck.”
The league greatly reduced allowable low blocks three years ago.
It made illegal blocking below the waist by offensive and defensive players on scrimmage downs when contact occurs beyond 5 yards on either side of the line of scrimmage and more than 2 yards outside of either offensive tackle. The league previously outlawed low blocks by players of either team after a change of possession or during kicks.
The penalty for an illegal block below the waist is 15 yards.
