NFL should hit the books

Falcons cornerback Dunta Robinson, right, was fined $40,000 for his
tackle of Eagles wide receiver Jeremy Maclin. (Getty Images)

If I may channel my inner Obama, let me be clear.

Falcons cornerback Dunta Robinson did nothing illegal when he viciously tackled Eagles receiver Jeremy Maclin during Sunday night's football game. The NFL doesn't agree, fining Robinson $40,000 for being "a repeat offender of player safety rules" after he was fined $50,000 (later dropped to $25,000 on appeal) for a legitimate penalty against Eagles receiver DeSean Jackson last season.

But therein lies the problem. Although the plays look similar, they're quite distinct. The NFL says you can't penalize a helmet-to-helmet hit against a runner, which is why Steelers linebacker James Harrison didn't get fined (a shock, I know) for his hit against Browns receiver Josh Cribbs last season.

It's admittedly difficult for officials to make the distinction between a defenseless receiver and a runner — at some amorphous point, the former becomes the latter — while watching live game action. But there's a problem when the NFL office doesn't acknowledge the difference after watching slow-motion replays.

When the NFL announced Robinson's most recent fine, the press release tried to clarify the league's position (emphasis theirs).

On the play, Robinson lowered his head and made forcible contact to the head and neck area of Philadelphia wide receiver JEREMY MACLIN.  Although Maclin completed the catch, he was still a defenseless player under the rule because he did not have time to protect himself and had not clearly become a runner.

Maybe they should actually read the "Clarification of Hits on Defenseless Players and Roughing the Passer Fouls" section included in the league's discipline guidelines.

If the receiver/runner is capable of avoiding or warding off the impending contact of an opponent, he is no longer a defeneseless player.

Jackson couldn't even get his second foot down before Robinson's blow, so the fine was legitimate. It's pretty clear, however, that after Maclin caught the ball, he saw Robinson and started to turn his body to avoid a bone-crushing hit. Maclin didn't succeed, of course, but the distinction is meaningless if you have to actually avoid the hit — because then helmet-to-helmet contact wouldn't have happened.

NBC color analyst Chris Collinsworth even says "there was plenty of time to react on this one" — referring to Robinson, of course — and play-by-play announcer Al Michaels adds "at least Maclin knew it was coming, for that's worth." It's worth everything! NFL players can initiate helmet-to-helmet contact against a runner as long as they don't launch off the ground (which Robinson came dangerously close to doing).

But let's look at the bright side. There was a worse perversion of justice last season when the officials penalized the Philadelphia Eagles and incorrectly called a fumble an incomplete pass simply because Colts receiver Austin Collie was visibly concussed from a legal hit.