Denver Broncos Safety Kareem Jackson Says NFL Does Poor Job Teaching Defensive Players To Avoid Illegal Hits

He has been ejected from two games, fined $89,670, and suspended for six games—this season.

This season, Denver Broncos Safety Kareem Jackson has been ejected from two games, fined $89,670, and suspended six games.

According to Jackson, it’s because the NFL isn’t a good teacher.

The Daily Mail and the Associated Press reports Jackson, a 14-year NFL veteran with 22 career interceptions, said he’s being singled out by the NFL for his hard- hitting playing style because it has no adequate answers on how he’s supposed to change his style to conform to the league’s decision to minimize hard hits on offensive players.

Jackson met with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell late last month following a four-game suspension, his second suspension of the season, to discuss his fines and his aggressive playing style.

“I was told that I’m responsible for the offensive guys’ protection,” Jackson said Monday, according to the Daily Mail. “So, I’m not really sure how I protect myself, make plays and protect them, as well. But that’s what I was told and I’m not really sure what I do moving forward as far as playing this game. So, hopefully I’ll figure it out.”

Jackson’s words should concern his teammates, who are one game behind the Kansas City Chiefs (8-5) for first place in the AFC West. The Broncos, under first-year head coach Sean Payton, have rebounded to a 7-6 record after starting the season 1-5.

Jackson isn’t the only one who is criticizing the way the game is played today.

“The rules have allowed a lot of bad habits to get into the actual performance of the game; the product, in my opinion, is less than what it’s been,” NFL legend Tom Brady told Stephen A. Smith. “I look at a lot of players like Ray Lewis and Rodney Harrison and Ronnie Lott and guys that impacted the game in a certain way, and every hit they would’ve made would’ve been a penalty. You hear coaches complaining about their own player being tackled and not necessarily why they don’t talk to their players about how to protect himself. We used to work on the fundamentals of those things all the time; now they’re going to be regulated all the time.”

The standard for roughing the quarterback, unnecessary roughness, and hitting a defenseless receiver calls are much lower than in the 1990s. However, the NFL has made these changes due to the $1.2 billion it might have to pay out in its concussion settlement and disability payments.