Skip to content

NFLPA hoping league bans leaping field-goal blocks

Boston Globe / Getty

Leaping over the long snapper to block a field goal became a popular play in 2016, but the NFLPA wants to outlaw the fad entirely to eliminate injuries that come from the leap.

"The jumping over on the field goal, I think, is just leading to a really dangerous play for everybody," NFLPA president Eric Winston said Wednesday, according to the Washington Post's Mark Maske. "If you jump over the center, the jumper is in a really bad spot. He can land on his head.

"I think the guys that are getting jumped over are going to end up getting hurt, with those guys landing on them. So I'll be very interested to see what they'll do there. I think something probably needs to be done."

The league may already be in agreement with Winston and the union, as the NFL was reportedly looking into banning the play in December. Winston said he expressed his view to the competition committee during a meeting at the combine.

"(It's) just becoming a really, really dangerous play and now especially because everyone's on the lookout for it, right?" Winston said. "So someone's ankles are going to get clipped. They're going to go ass over teakettle, and either someone's going to get landed on or he's going to fall on his head.

"And they're really bad injuries, too. It's not like, 'Oh, he could sprain his ankle.' Those are neck injuries. Those are bad knee injuries. We expressed that to them, and I hope they follow through on that."

Daily Newsletter

Get the latest trending sports news daily in your inbox