Oklahoma Drill BANNED: The pussification of the NFL continues

Gatorbreath

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NFL asks teams to stop Oklahoma drill, others


First, the NFL sanctioned pink outerwear, then tolerated all the kneeling BS and now this. The league is banning teams from using tried and true practice drills including Oklahoma drills, Bull in the Ring and Half Line in the name of "player safety". And I'm pretty sure that practice contact was severely limited a few years ago as part of the CBA.

I firmly believe Roger Goodell is some kind of Euro spy sent here to destroy football to increase soccer's popularity.

It is a blessing I really don't follow the NFL anymore. Well, much, anyway... :lol:
 

NOLAGATOR

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It's the NFL...go figure.
 

oxrageous

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The new drill involves putting on skirts and going through dance routines.
 

Gatorbreath

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I played through my sophomore year in college and I can honestly say my high school practices were tougher than those in college. Part of that was for college ball, we were expected to arrive in camp in shape and the first two days of camp were dedicated to testing: bench press, squat, dead lift, vertical jump, shuttle run, 40-yard dash and most brutal was a 12-minute 2 mile run. There were points assigned on a sliding scale for each movement, but you had to pass the test to be allowed to practice. Linemen would rack up extra points lifting, because they'd suffer running. And you couldn't slide a Sunday paper under their feet when they did the vertical jump. College practices were more focused on execution of the playbook, proper form, etc. rather than conditioning and hitting for the sake of hitting. And you had to check into the weight room and lift in college, even during the season. In HS, I think they assumed most of the kids weren't in great shape so there was a lot of running and conditioning.

In addition to the drills the NFL just banned, we had other contact drills and punishment drills. I can remember a game where our OL played terribly and our QB got pounded. At Tuesday's full-pad practice, the coaches had an o-lineman "play" QB, but with no o-line. He stood there with the ball, pretending to take the snap, then fading back to pass. The defensive line and linebackers sprinted off the line and just took turns hammering him. And they'd have him try to step up into the pocket. Each o-lineman took turns as the "QB". Some of the younger kids looked like they were on the brink of tears. There was a drill where one guy would be the center of the circle of say, 6 other guys and the 6 guys would take turns running at and hitting the guy in the middle. The idea was for the middle guy to turn quickly, get his feet and hips set and meet the attacker and deliver a shot back. But sometimes the attackers would come fast, you'd get knocked down and they'd keep coming. And piling on. And the friggin fumble drills were insane. It is a wonder no one was killed. But that craziness aside, I do think there was a lot of benefit to the drills the NFL just banned. Toughness, proper form, toughness, digging deep, toughness. And you can't hide during an Oklahoma drill or 3-on-3s...

Further walking down memory lane: Our coach had what he called "natural stickum". We threw the ball a lot, so there was a lot of passing in practice. If a receiver dropped a catchable pass, the coach would shriek your name, you'd sprint over to him, hold your hands out and he'd empty his lungs and nasal passages all over your hands, grab your wrists and rub your hands together and he'd better not catch you wiping it off. This was the early-mid '80s - gloves were still very rare. I played TE and had the "natural stickum" applied just once. It smelled surprisingly awful.

Water was for pussies. The concepts we have today for proper hydration were not practiced back then and you had to earn water or the lime-aid we'd occasionally get. They were more generous with water in college, but I can recall not wanting to go to the coolers too often because I didn't want to be perceived as a puss.

And one more example of how times have changed. I went to a Catholic HS and one of our big rivals was Sacred Heart. So there was all kinds of motivational stuff for "Break the Heart" week. One was this: the coaches would mount a red painted plywood heart on the end of a post at the top of a hill. We'd all get rocks and take turns throwing rocks at the heart. In a line next to us were the cheerleaders. If you hit the heart, you could pick whichever girl you want and in front of everyone, kiss her. Now some were pecks on the check, but others were full lip locks and dips. Can you imagine that today?

I remember the culture shock when I got to my first college camp. It was much more business-like and no one got really crazy and cursed like we did in HS.
 

BMF

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I played through my sophomore year in college and I can honestly say my high school practices were tougher than those in college. Part of that was for college ball, we were expected to arrive in camp in shape and the first two days of camp were dedicated to testing: bench press, squat, dead lift, vertical jump, shuttle run, 40-yard dash and most brutal was a 12-minute 2 mile run. There were points assigned on a sliding scale for each movement, but you had to pass the test to be allowed to practice. Linemen would rack up extra points lifting, because they'd suffer running. And you couldn't slide a Sunday paper under their feet when they did the vertical jump. College practices were more focused on execution of the playbook, proper form, etc. rather than conditioning and hitting for the sake of hitting. And you had to check into the weight room and lift in college, even during the season. In HS, I think they assumed most of the kids weren't in great shape so there was a lot of running and conditioning.

In addition to the drills the NFL just banned, we had other contact drills and punishment drills. I can remember a game where our OL played terribly and our QB got pounded. At Tuesday's full-pad practice, the coaches had an o-lineman "play" QB, but with no o-line. He stood there with the ball, pretending to take the snap, then fading back to pass. The defensive line and linebackers sprinted off the line and just took turns hammering him. And they'd have him try to step up into the pocket. Each o-lineman took turns as the "QB". Some of the younger kids looked like they were on the brink of tears. There was a drill where one guy would be the center of the circle of say, 6 other guys and the 6 guys would take turns running at and hitting the guy in the middle. The idea was for the middle guy to turn quickly, get his feet and hips set and meet the attacker and deliver a shot back. But sometimes the attackers would come fast, you'd get knocked down and they'd keep coming. And piling on. And the friggin fumble drills were insane. It is a wonder no one was killed. But that craziness aside, I do think there was a lot of benefit to the drills the NFL just banned. Toughness, proper form, toughness, digging deep, toughness. And you can't hide during an Oklahoma drill or 3-on-3s...

Further walking down memory lane: Our coach had what he called "natural stickum". We threw the ball a lot, so there was a lot of passing in practice. If a receiver dropped a catchable pass, the coach would shriek your name, you'd sprint over to him, hold your hands out and he'd empty his lungs and nasal passages all over your hands, grab your wrists and rub your hands together and he'd better not catch you wiping it off. This was the early-mid '80s - gloves were still very rare. I played TE and had the "natural stickum" applied just once. It smelled surprisingly awful.

Water was for pussies. The concepts we have today for proper hydration were not practiced back then and you had to earn water or the lime-aid we'd occasionally get. They were more generous with water in college, but I can recall not wanting to go to the coolers too often because I didn't want to be perceived as a puss.

And one more example of how times have changed. I went to a Catholic HS and one of our big rivals was Sacred Heart. So there was all kinds of motivational stuff for "Break the Heart" week. One was this: the coaches would mount a red painted plywood heart on the end of a post at the top of a hill. We'd all get rocks and take turns throwing rocks at the heart. In a line next to us were the cheerleaders. If you hit the heart, you could pick whichever girl you want and in front of everyone, kiss her. Now some were pecks on the check, but others were full lip locks and dips. Can you imagine that today?

I remember the culture shock when I got to my first college camp. It was much more business-like and no one got really crazy and cursed like we did in HS.

I played HS football through my junior year. I broke my collarbone in the Oklahoma drill - I tackled a 5'6 RB (I'm 5'11), I dropped my shoulder...he dropped his helmet and it hit me right in the collarbone. I graduated HS in 88, so this was the 1985 season. A lot of what we did was exactly as you described. We also rarely had water breaks and had to have our helmets on at all times - even during games on the sidelines. Looking back on it, it was ridiculous.

I think the 1-on-1 Oklahoma drill is brutal, but 2-on-2 isn't as bad. Really surprised this is happening in the NFL. It's happening all over HS ball.
 

MJMGator

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NFL asks teams to stop Oklahoma drill, others


First, the NFL sanctioned pink outerwear, then tolerated all the kneeling BS and now this. The league is banning teams from using tried and true practice drills including Oklahoma drills, Bull in the Ring and Half Line in the name of "player safety". And I'm pretty sure that practice contact was severely limited a few years ago as part of the CBA.

I firmly believe Roger Goodell is some kind of Euro spy sent here to destroy football to increase soccer's popularity.

It is a blessing I really don't follow the NFL anymore. Well, much, anyway... :lol:
I hate Roger, but you have to remember that he’s doing exactly what the owners instruct him to do. They hired him, they pay him and he follows their orders. The minute he stops, he’ll be replaced with another minion.
 

Gatorbreath

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I hate Roger, but you have to remember that he’s doing exactly what the owners instruct him to do. They hired him, they pay him and he follows their orders. The minute he stops, he’ll be replaced with another minion.

Excellent point.

The brain stuff is a concern, but it seems like they're making decisions almost tailored to alienate their hardcore fan base.
 

MJMGator

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Excellent point.

The brain stuff is a concern, but it seems like they're making decisions almost tailored to alienate their hardcore fan base.
I think it’s a combination of 2 issues. First, they’re running scared of lawsuits (like every entity in our country). Second, as player salaries have skyrocketed over the years, they’re doing what they can to keep the players on the field instead of on injured reserve. Monster investment.
 

deuce

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2 hand touch is coming..... mark my words,,

Instant replay to see if the touch was below the belt.
 

oxrageous

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2 hand touch is coming..... mark my words,,

Instant replay to see if the touch was below the belt.
They'll go flags, as 2 hand touch is too rough - could give someone an owie if they were touched too hard.
 

78

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Pussification? No.

Lawyerfication? Absolutely yes.
 

Swamp Donkey

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The brain stuff is a concern, but it seems like they're making decisions almost tailored to alienate their hardcore fan base.
I'd guess that 98% of NFL fan base have no idea what an Oklahoma drill is and have no idea if their team did it.
 

AugustaGator

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Not sure why at professional level they would want to do these drills. Also not sure why they would ban it.
 

Loogis

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The key is how far apart you place the players. It’s really asinine to be separated 5 yards or more. That’s where the injuries happen.

The ideal set up is in the clip above. It’s safe, and perfect to find out who has “it.”
 

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