College Football’s Targeting Rule Needs To Change

Head injuries are a serious topic in college football and should not be taken lightly. The game of football has taken some significant steps forward to protect players, and I am all for it.

However, what I am not in favor of is the way the NCAA enforces its Targeting rule. ESPN defines targeting as "The rule prohibits players from initiating forcible contact against an opposing player." The rule emphasizes the defender using his helmet as a weapon toward the offensive player's head or neck area.

That's not the issue I have with the rule. I don't think players should use their heads as a projectile to headbutt the opposing player. That should be a 15-yard penalty and an automatic first down. If it's an egregious, unwarranted violent hit then, sure, eject the player for the remainder of the game (I'm not even sure you should eject the player unless it's an unjustifiably violent hit).

BUT...

The rule becomes ridiculous when a player gets ejected for targeting in the second half of one game and is suspended for the first half of the NEXT game. That's what happened to Montana Grizzly linebacker Riley Wilson. Wilson was ejected after a targeting call in the win over Western Carolina, and since the foul occurred in the second half he's forced to miss the first half of the Big Sky Conference opener at Eastern Washington.

READ MORE: Montana Grizzlies Have The Chance To Do Something They've Never Accomplished Before This Weekend

It's absurd to force a college football player to miss multiple halves of football for a penalty. There is no way Wilson had unlawful intentions rattling around his head when he went to hit the quarterback. I'm sure all that was going through his head during the very fast, very dangerous environment around him was "I need to sack this guy and help my defense," not "I intend on hurting this guy with my head."

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The part that really irks me is college football players will play 40-50 games in their career, and that's if they play all 4 years. That's a very limited, finite number of games and you're going to sideline a player after a week of intense preparation because he committed a penalty. That bums me out for the player.

Football is violent. There is no way around it. Penalize the player on the field during the game, but don't make him miss an entire half of football for it.