ESPN
If you’ve tuned into an NFL game this year there’s a very good chance you’ve witnessed someone get flagged for breathing a little too hard in the general direction of a quarterback thanks to the NFL’s newly instituted roughing the passer rules.
We got a preview of how things were going to look this year in the preseason, where there were more than a few calls that resulted in outraged fans taking to the internet to air their grievances— including hits like these.
Of course, it wasn’t just fans who were unhappy about the new regulations.
Plenty of players and coaches voiced their concerns and there was some speculation that the league would relax the rules once the season kicked off.
That has turned out to not be the case. Not at all.
A number of players have been the victim of bogus roughing the passer calls but no one has been impacted more than Clay Matthews, who has already been flagged multiple times for some pretty standard tackles.
A number of Packers fans came to Matthews’ defense after the most recent call, with one setting up a satirical GoFundMe page and a couple of others making an instructional video to help him avoid getting flagged in the future.
Now, Kevin Hart has chimed in with a couple of incredibly innovative solutions that he unveiled in an appearance on Get Up this morning.
His first solution is pretty straightforward: you ask the quarterback if it’s OK to sack him, tap him on the shoulder, lightly push his head down and finish by stepping delicately on his back.
The second one addresses what will happen if the QB is faced with two defenders, with Hart suggesting they should team up to gently lower the player to the ground before placing his head on a pillow and covering him with a blanket.
I hope Matthews is paying attention.