My head hurts.

[NorCalMike]

Working U tonight. Runner comes up the middle. I step to the right to avoid him. He decides to cut the same direction and runs right into me. As we were going down, his helmet contacted the side of my head. I went down and rolled a couple times. Almost had the use the concussion rule on myself.

First tackle I made in 30 years. 

[JasonTX]

Almost had the to use the concussion rule on myself.

The first sign of a concussion is grammar errors. 

[Etref]

My umpire made a great tackle last night. RB Just plowed into him and no matter which way my U tried to go the RB followed.

[NorCalMike]

The first sign of a concussion is grammar errors. 

Hopefully, I am getting better.

[TampaSteve]

Good to hear you weren't hurt.
This applies for varsity & maybe JV runners as they have experience.  MY personal experience & from what those working at a higher level say:
Don't step L or R to aviod the runner. - good ones will use you as a pick.
Hold your ground & hold a hand in front of you as a 'bumper' & let him make the moves on you.
Rather have him "ole" pass you (ala el toro fashion).

At the end of the day, my rationale is, "It's me or you, kid & it aint going to be me."

[Cowman52]

Think skinny, look large.

[NorCalMike]

Nice of our local MaxPreps photographer to get a picture.
http://www.maxpreps.com/local/team/photo/full_size.aspx?gendersport=boys,football&photogalleryid=900f789e-805e-4cfb-b15c-533363937650&schoolid=4c6846da-edc9-43d5-b9df-cad98741ed79#photoid=9064a2ee-7a8d-8c56-84b7-e7511b23a933

[InsideTheStripes]

Good to hear you weren't hurt.
This applies for varsity & maybe JV runners as they have experience.  MY personal experience & from what those working at a higher level say:
Don't step L or R to aviod the runner. - good ones will use you as a pick.
Hold your ground & hold a hand in front of you as a 'bumper' & let him make the moves on you.
Rather have him "ole" pass you (ala el toro fashion).

At the end of the day, my rationale is, "It's me or you, kid & it aint going to be me."

+1

[inthepit]

Worked "in the pit" for 20+ years.  When I couldn't avoid the player, I squared up and hit him.  Only went down twice in my career, once when a helmet caught me under the chin and the other when a runner tumbled over the pile and kicked me in the face.

[NorCalMike]

Saw the photographer who took the picture from last week. He was at our game this week. Told him my wife loved the picture.

[bama_stripes]

At least you didn't look like this (from one of our local games last night):
http://tinyurl.com/8g6vdvs

[Roscoe]

At least you didn't look like this (from one of our local games last night):
http://tinyurl.com/8g6vdvs

Please tell me that is Hal... ha!!

[HLinNC]

http://themountaineer.villagesoup.com/sports/story/parton-breaks-leg-in-collision-at-vols-game/897385

This guy is a local freelance photog that shoots a lot of our local HS and MS games.  He also shoots some at UTK.  His right leg basically blew up below the knee after the UT and UF player ran over him last week.

Apparently there have been some complications with swelling so he's yet to have surgery.

I've been lucky on the sidelines these last 19 years.  I can see how it easily it could happen.

[James]

I've only gone down once in the middle from a hit, from a defender rolling up my leg after being pancaked. I've taken a few helmets or shoulder pads to the chin though, and come to think about it gotten tangled in a pile of players once or twice as well...

The only problem with standing still and letting the RB use you as a pick is that the defender will usually try to go through you - which hurts more because you don't know what angle they are coming at!

[110]

Last year, a first-year ref I had recruited suffered a serious double-break in his leg. He was working HL, and a couple of kids rolled up his leg and turned it into a very interesting X-Ray. That was November. He's still on the limp, and not working games this year.

Second year in Saskatchewan, same thing happened to a promising sophomore. Mechanics, space, mechanics, space.

[Welpe]

http://themountaineer.villagesoup.com/sports/story/parton-breaks-leg-in-collision-at-vols-game/897385

This guy is a local freelance photog that shoots a lot of our local HS and MS games.  He also shoots some at UTK.  His right leg basically blew up below the knee after the UT and UF player ran over him last week.

Apparently there have been some complications with swelling so he's yet to have surgery.

I've been lucky on the sidelines these last 19 years.  I can see how it easily it could happen.

Holy cow. That's just like my sports photog wife. She willingly risks getting run over to get the perfect shot. I joke with her that she needs an assistant to tie a rope around her waist and yank her away when the play gets too close.