LATROBE, Pa. -- If the Steelers players had hoped to gain any clarity on the NFL's new rules against using the helmet to tackle, they probably didn't gain any from Thursday night's Hall of Fame Game in Canton, Ohio.
There were four unnecessary roughness penalties called in the game for use of the helmet by players in that game, the first two of which were ones that would have been called in previous seasons. The second two? Even former NFL official Terry McAulay -- working the game as a rules analyst for NBC -- was uncertain they should have been called, even under the new, more strict rules.
The NFL sends a group of officials to each team's training camp to help explain any new rules or ones that will be stressed in an upcoming season, and it fell on back judge Tony Steratore, a Washington County resident, to handle those duties for the Steelers.
The meeting with the Steelers players and coaches took place Friday and it probably raised as many questions as it did provide answers.
"No one has ever been instructed to put their head down and lead with the crown of their helmet," Steratore explained. "As officials, we're excited about any rule that comes in that makes the game safer for players."
According to a fact sheet sent out to all 32 teams by the league, the new rule makes it "a foul if a player lowers his head to initiate and make contact with his helmet against an opponent. Contact does not have to be to an opponent’s head or neck area – lowering the head and initiating contact to an opponent’s torso, hips, and lower body, is also a foul. Violations of the rule will be easier to see and officiate when they occur in open space – as opposed to close line play – but this rule applies anywhere on the field at any time."
The penalty is 15 yards. But, this year, depending upon the severity of the contact, it also can result in an ejection, which will be handled by the league replay command center in New York immediately.
The Ravens, who defeated the Bears, 17-16, in the Hall of Fame Game, were particularly unhappy with some of the calls. Safety Bennett Jackson drew one of the penalties McAulay felt was questionable and was unhappy following the game.
He told reporters at the game his tackle was a "perfect" one and feels officials will have their radar up to make the crown of the helmet call throughout the preseason schedule.
"I feel like they're trying to harp on it a lot more in preseason, so they're going to throw flags even on times when it's not necessarily head to head, just to make people aware of it," Jackson told reporters. "I spoke to the ref. He even said, 'Hey, it's preseason, we got to throw the flag.'"
Steelers safety Nat Berhe played with Jackson last season with the New York Giants and felt for his former teammate.
"Man, it's a bang-bang play," Berhe told me. "I thought it was a great play. Whether his head was in there on purpose, who knows?
"It's above my pay grade. ... Guys are trying to figure out what's appropriate and what's not."
Steratore feels the players will figure things out pretty quickly when it comes to that rule, even if they don't necessarily like it.
"This helmet thing is for all 22 players," Steratore said. "Quarterbacks can't lead with the crown of their helmets into a defender. Nobody at any time can legally lead with the crown of the helmet and initiate contact on an opponent to any part of his body. This isn't just for the crown to helmet, helmet to helmet.
"If you see that player who is looking down at the ground, he's going to get himself in a linear, dangerous position. We want that out of the game."
For the Steelers, that should make sense after seeing their teammate, Ryan Shazier, injured while making just such a tackle last year in Cincinnati.
Shazier, who often led with his head down on tackles, tackled Cincinnati receiver Josh Malone after a short catch, his head contacting Malone's body first. He immediately reached for his lower back and was diagnosed with a lower spine injury that ended his 2017 season and will keep him out all of 2018.
"The Steelers’ staff has encouraged us to take every opportunity to educate their coaching staff and their players so that we’re all on the same page, and I think that’s applied just not to this rule, but to all the rules," Steratore said. "It’s a good time for us to have an open, honest dialogue and get each other on the same page."
And Steratore doesn't feel the foul will be called as often as some fear.
"No, you can’t call it every play," he said. "There’s really not as many incidents. To some degree this has been overblown."