Cleveland Browns safety Rodney McLeod joined Afternoon Drive on The Fan to talk about re-signing as a free agent this offseason, his role in this defense, the NFL's change in banning the hip-drop tackle and this team's goal to build on last season's playoff appearance.
In particular, the NFL's newly implemented ban of the hip-drop tackle frustrated McLeod a great deal.
“It’s frustrating," he said. "Our job is to defend, is to tackle and is to allow opponents not to score. We do it at a fast rate. We do it without thought. Because we’ve been trained to do these things for so long. Again, the plays that they’re highlighting all resulted in unfortunate injuries from two great players, but we can’t allow that to dictate the way that we play the game and the integrity of the game to the point where you’re making players more cautious, more hesitant. Because that in itself creates more injuries. You’re also not allowing guys to do their job effectively. I think that’s the hard part about it for me, is being able to do my job at a high level. And the result of that is you’re telling me that a tackle I’ve done a million times is now a penalty and I can jeopardize and put my team in a bad position and also my family – taking money from them. Those are just my biggest concerns. When we get to these moments, the highest moments, playoffs, Super Bowl, how are you going to be able to measure that sort of tackle in that moment and be able to make that call? Because we know the margin of error is so small. So I don’t know where we go from here. It’s a decision they made. But all I can do is respect the game and play the game like I know how.”