PRO FOOTBALL / BOB OATES : Rules Needed to Protect Quarterbacks

The hunters in the Pittsburgh Steelers’ defensive line brought down another quarterback Sunday, and the Philadelphia Eagles got one, too.

Both injured passers, Jack Trudeau of the Indianapolis Colts and Jeff Hostetler of the New York Giants, left with concussions after attacks by linemen.

In each case, the blow to the quarterback’s head was marginally legal. Of the many quarterbacks knocked out of NFL games this fall, the most seriously injured were battered by players who weren’t penalized for tackling with lethal weapons--their helmets.

And that’s the problem.

The NFL has, in effect, declared open season on quarterbacks, and it’s merely a question of time until one of them is maimed, paralyzed, or even killed.

In which case, the league’s 28 owners probably will be sued, deservedly, for several million dollars each.

For this carnage is needless.

The NFL needs three new rules:

--It should be a violation to hit a player in the head, neck area or spinal column with a helmet. Penalty: ejection and loss of a game’s salary.

--It should be a violation to deliberately drive a quarterback into the ground. No legitimate end is achieved when a passer’s head is snapped on the ground, or his shoulder jammed into the turf.

A football player who is down is down. He can’t get up and run with the ball. The only reason for the excessive force is to hurt the quarterback.

--It should be a violation to batter a passer after he has thrown the ball. The rules allow a defensive player to take a step or two after the pass is gone and then smash into the quarterback with all the force he can muster while running full speed. This license should be immediately revoked.

It is a license to inflict serious injury.

A properly written rule would make this point: Whenever the ball is gone, players should be required to ease up before hitting the quarterback.

A hit might be inescapable, but unrestrained punishment is avoidable and should be outlawed. Give the quarterback the benefit of the doubt.

Talking about all this not long ago, Deacon Jones, the Ram Hall of Famer who coined the word sack in its football meaning, said: “Everyone who has ever played or refereed the game can tell . . . whether a defensive player is letting up or coming full bore at the passer. You can look at the old (Ram films). As badly as I wanted sacks, I always let up if the ball was gone.”

That should be mandatory.

When John Elway couldn’t play Sunday, the list of quarterbacks who have started every NFL game since opening day last year was reduced to four: Jim Everett, Dan Marino, Mark Rypien and Jim Harbaugh.

It’s a last man’s club.

The others weren’t all injured in action, but most were.

Warren Moon, for instance, has been knocked out twice in the last month by players who attacked him with their helmeted heads.

On Nov. 1, the Houston quarterback was blitzed and sacked by Steeler safety Rod Woodson, who drove him into the ground with such force that Moon suffered a concussion.

On Nov. 15, Moon, tackled after scrambling with the ball, was falling forward when Minnesota safety Vencie Glenn raced in and speared him in the arm, breaking a bone.

In the NFL this season, it’s happening often.

Last Sunday, for example, Giant quarterback Hostetler, after completing a nine-yard pass, was hit by Philadelphia defensive lineman Mike Golic, who drove his head into Hostetler’s face.

Result: Hostetler’s third concussion this year--and another premature exit.

Golic plays by the rules. It’s the rules that are wrong.

Star nucleus: The Broncos, lining up without Elway, couldn’t put their hearts into it Sunday--particularly on defense--and were routed, 24-0.

Their backup quarterback, Tommy Maddox, demonstrated, first, that UCLA should have accomplished more when he was there, and, second, that he has an NFL future if he isn’t too frail for pro football.

The Raiders will be tested in their next game, at San Diego on Sunday night. Those two teams will crowd the field with a bigger assortment of Super Bowl-caliber players than you are likely to see even in the Super Bowl this season.

Against Denver, the Raiders again showed off six athletes who should be forming, and might still be identified this year as, a championship team’s nucleus: Howie Long, Greg Townsend, Ronnie Lott, Eric Dickerson, Tim Brown and Marcus Allen.

It’s a mystery why the Raiders (5-6) aren’t a big winner with that nucleus plus pretty good strength in the middle of the offensive line and other strengths in the secondary.

And the Chargers (6-5) are possibly better.

Sanders running: Two of last year’s three run-and-shoot teams will be matched at 9:30 a.m. Thursday when the Houston Oilers (6-5) make one of their rare appearances at Detroit (3-8). In a Thanksgiving special, the Lions expect to keep running back Barry Sanders on the move.

After they lost to Dallas early this month, 37-3, the Lions, who had abandoned their run-and-shoot system, started playing with four receivers again most of the time, and that opened the field for Sanders. He has since averaged 100 yards.

The Lions haven’t returned to the true run-and-shoot because, they say, Coach Wayne Fontes’ new offensive coordinator, Dan Henning, doesn’t understand it.

A former Washington Redskin assistant, he prefers Washington’s four-receiver formations, which have been good enough for Sanders.

What Fontes wanted this year was the Redskins’ power-running attack. With tight-end blocking, he hoped to make Sanders even better than he was last year in the run-and-shoot.

What Fontes found is that Sanders doesn’t need blocking, he needs holes. And with four receivers spreading the field, he has been getting more of those.

The Oilers have been running lately, too, with Lorenzo White, but otherwise this is beginning to qualify as the unluckiest team of the year.

At Miami on Sunday, they lost another close one when backup receiver Leonard Harris dropped a last-minute pass in the end zone.

Dan Marino’s game-winning field-goal drive followed.

Houston is still playing the true run-and-shoot with backup quarterback Cody Carlson, who will face the Detroit backup, Erik Kramer, in a game that will probably doom the Oilers if they lose again.

Coming back: The Giants, after a slow start, won three in a row and stood 5-4 this month when they lost linebacker Lawrence Taylor, 33, to a season-ending injury.

Since then, they have been beaten at Denver, 27-13, and by Philadelphia, 47-34.

Taylor had been suggesting all year that he wants retirement soon because of his accumulation of injuries.

“When you get old, everything hurts,” he said the day before he suffered a ruptured Achilles’ tendon.

Now, look for him to rejoin the Giants next season. Because of his love for golf, he will work hard to rehabilitate. And by next summer he will probably decide that after all that work, he might as well play another year of football, too, for another $2 million.

Quote Department:

--Joe Gibbs, Washington coach, on the offensive-line injuries that have disrupted Mark Rypien’s passing: “The single best way to affect the passing game is to hit the quarterback. You can’t throw if you can’t set your feet.”

--Jerry Gray, Houston cornerback, on Denver’s John Elway: “When he’s in the pocket, he’s just another quarterback. When you let him scramble, that puts him in an elite class.”

--Nick Lowery, Kansas City kicker, on NFL football: “It’s just a wonderful game. Football has the best blend of grace, speed, violence, precision and chess-like approach of any game.

“It appeals to as wide a variety of people as any game. There’s the crowd, the ebb and flow of the game. It’s a visual spectacular.”

--Jack Pardee, Houston coach, on prevent defenses: “We’ve done it both ways, playing soft--letting (opponents) gain 15 yards--and playing aggressive. There isn’t any one best way. We’ve lost both ways.”