Over the past few years, the NFL has been under siege by many about the rules it has in place regarding player safety. More specifically, safety to the head, and neck areas. Each year, the league seems to implement a new rule to promote player safety, which has greatly reduced the risk of head and neck injuries, however, the league may have gone too far this time.

This past offseason, the league put in a new personal foul penalty that bans players from initiating contact with the crown of their helmet. This rule sounds good on paper, but the early results that we have seen so far this preseason have been downright ugly.

Since the onset of the preseason, this penalty has been called 50 times. While some have been obvious fouls, a wide majority of these penalties have been extremely vague, and sometimes just routine tackles.

The new rule states "It is a foul if a player lowers his head to initiate and make contact with his helmet against an opponent." It then goes on to say essentially that if any part of the helmet touches an opponent, a foul should be called.

Again, this looks good on paper, but realistically, it is not a healthy way to approach player safety. When young players are taught how to tackle, the first thing that most are told is to put their helmet to the side of the opponent, with their head up, and then finish the tackle. This is tackling in its purest form, and even then, a player is required to initiate contact with their helmet.

It has come to the point where players, as well as coaches, have begun to talk about how the rule is hurting and could continue to hurt the league. Mike Zimmer, the head coach of the Minnesota Vikings said: "It's going to cost some people some jobs -- playoffs, jobs, the whole bit I'm guessing." He may not be wrong, either.

Players who have been playing the game since their childhood should not have to totally change the way they play. Instead, these rules should be taught to young players, from middle school to high school. This will ensure that the game will be safe for years to come, instead of trying to change the culture and nature of an inherently violent game overnight.

If players are going to be getting penalized for routine form tackles, the NFL may continue to lose viewers and support for itself.

If the league wants to see real change, it must focus on the future instead of the now.