Using the Head as a Weapon in Football

Head-Down Contact and Spearing Prevention

2005 - Earlier this year, due to concerns over continued head and neck injuries related to head-down contact and spearing in football, the National Athletic Trainers' Association (NATA) and the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) co-sponsored a task force, looking at ways to prevent head and neck injuries. The task force was composed of certified athletic trainers, physicians, researchers, and coaches. The NATA/AFCA Spearing in Football Task Force worked together with the NCAA Men's Football Rules Committee and effective this season, the NCAA changed the college football rules regarding spearing and head-down contact.

The task force is now focusing on education of student-athletes, coaches, officials and administrators regarding prevention of head and neck injuries. A poster has been developed by the NCAA which will be distributed to each NCAA institution to be placed in the football locker room as a daily visual reminder of unsafe hitting techniques. A powerpoint presentation has been developed for certified athletic trainers to show to student-athletes. This powerpoint presentation, 10-15 minutes in length, has a script to go along with the slides as well as several mechanism of injury video clips. It is designed to educate student-athletes regarding who is at risk, mechanism of injury, the concept of "axial loading", and prevention of injury through safe technique. This presentation is designed as a template: please feel free to modify it as necessary to meet your individual needs. The NATA/AFCA Spearing in Football Task Force requests that certified athletic trainers review the presentation with their football student-athletes in the fall and the spring, ideally prior to the beginning of contact.

Development and production of an educational videotape on this topic is underway.

Educational Materials:

HEADS UP! - National Athletic Trainers' Association Educaitonal Video Watch On-line
Student-athlete Poster - Protect Your Head and Neck! PDF Printable version.
Educational Video for Officials - Head-down Contact and Spearing in Football - (36 min)

Watch On-line (512kbps broadband)
Slide Set Presentation with separate Notes

NCAA Sports Medicine Handbook Guideline 4e. Use of the head as a weapon in football and other contact sports. Available On-line.
NCAA Men's Football Rules and Interpretations Manual. Available On-line.

Related sites on this issue:

The contact for this page is dklossner@ncaa.org