The Wedge Fails NFL Safety Test

At the NFL owners’ meetings in California, player safety was a big topic once again, and the result is the end of one of football’s staples — the wedge on kickoff returns. Today, I discuss my own encounters with the wedge and forecast an end to big returns and fireworks in the game’s most exciting play.

The Wedge

I think we should start by describing what the wedge is because I’ve read conflicting reports from various media outlets that left me confused.

For everyone who has played the game at any level, you probably have seen it — or were part of it when you played — but for those who haven’t run full speed into this mountain of men, it’s interesting to discuss.

I have seen them all – three-, four- and five-man wedges on kickoff returns. Think of it this way: Take your three biggest buddies from college (the guys who could drink a case of beer in one night), have them stand up, lock their hands together and then run at you full speed. Or take three of those John Deer riding mowers, tie them together and send them at you (preferably with the blades turned off).

Or take three giant men from the NFL, dress them in full gear and line up 50 yards in front of them. Blow a whistle and get up to top speed, then launch yourself into this moving mass of muscle and fat and helmets.

That’s a wedge.

It’s been around forever, and the blockers’ responsibility is to protect the kick returner behind them from the crazy men who cover kicks for a living in the NFL. They open up lanes and clear bodies out of the way so a returner can find a hole, or a gap in the coverage, and explode up the field.

The result in the NFL is usually a wake of bodies sprawled across the field.

But as we learned Tuesday, it’s coming to an end. There will only be a “two-man wedge” allowed under new league rules, and kickoff returns will suffer as a result.

How It Works

Every kick return in the NFL begins with the wedge,

On a middle return, the wedge leads straight up the middle of the field with the returner following behind. He’s looking to make a cut and avoid the catastrophic result of the impact in front of him. The same goes for a left or a right return.

These big men -- most wedges consist of back-up offensive and defensive linemen, plus the occasional tight end -- drop about 15 yards while the ball is in the air, wait until it’s caught and the returner gives the “go” signal, then turn up field — trying to run through anything in their path.

The returner will follow about 10 yards behind and then make his move, depending on how the wedge works — because it can get blown up by the eager cover men running down the field like they just stole something.

The question for the NFL competition committee: Is the wedge is causing more injuries than it’s helping the game?

Probably, but taking it away will change the results while preventing injury.

How Do You Attack It?

Most likely with your eyes closed, and without fear for your body.

I covered plenty of kicks in my career, and I tried to find a way to cheat the system while coming face-to-face with the wedge.

I would turn my body almost sideways at the point of impact and try to make my body explode in those little creases between men who looked like Andre the Giant, using my knees to drive up in a violent movement right below their hips — usually resulting in a massive pileup of bodies. In some cases, I would find myself coming out on the other side with the ball carrier right in front of me. And that would equal a big hit, a big collision and a big headache.

But there were plenty of times when I missed the crease and felt my bones and organs shake inside as I was swallowed up whole by the wedge. I would lay there, hoping I wouldn’t die, and find a way to drag myself to the sideline — only to do it three or four more times that afternoon.

Fun times.

You can’t hit below the knees, you can’t go airborne over the top — if you want to keep playing football — and the only way to go is right through the middle.

In this regard, I can see the safety concerns because the cover men, and the guys in the wedge, are sitting ducks for a major explosion at the point of contact. There were times I thought I would never get up, and I understand that safety is a major issue with players, but I also have to admit that each of us knew the consequences.

Just read the warning label on the back of a football helmet. It’s worse than the plague when it comes to the possible results.

But any time you put on a football helmet, you’re accepting the risk of a major injury.

The Result on Sundays

Big kickoff returns usually are the result of a returner making a cut off the side of the wedge and finding a crease to get vertically up the field.

Without the wedge, or with only a two-man wedge that is easily attacked from the edges, the I believe that big returns will drop.

By taking away the three-man wedge, you are also taking away the most exciting play in the game. Returners will now be required to make more men miss, and they will also be sitting targets for cover men. Trust me, I would have loved to cover kicks without a wedge, and I would have loved to defeat one guy with a free run at the return man.

If a return is broken, it will be something that should be on Sunday night highlights, because it’s going to take a lot of work. No more hiding behind the wedge until the last second and making your move. Returns will develop more quickly, and cover men will now have the advantage.

Plus, those open-field hits will be bigger and more dangerous. Take something away for safety reasons — such as the wedge — and put something else in that creates danger for the return man.

Bottom line, I’m always for player safety in this league, and the last thing any of us wants to see is someone carried off on a stretcher as a result of covering a kick. But in doing this, we’re altering the game.

It’s a fine line to walk.

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