Due to the inherently high-impact nature of professional football, injuries, including CTE, are inevitable when towering defenders use their speed and size against offensive rivals. With CTE becoming a major concern, the NFL bent its rules after facing lawsuits over player safety. Although rule tweaks have improved player safety, the Pittsburgh Steelers legend and Hall of Famer Rod Woodson isn’t vibing with the recent defensive modifications.

“We sued the league for free agency, and then the league was being very dishonest about CTE concussions, right? So, they got a lawsuit with that,” said Woodson on a recent episode of The Richard Sherman Podcast. “When you sue your employer, it’s going to happen where they’re going to openly protect themselves in some capacity. So, that’s where the league is at because quarterbacks are protected in the pocket, out of the pocket, receivers are protected over the middle of the field.”

The league faced CTE and concussion-related lawsuits because of the allegations by former players that the long-term risk of neurological damage was intentionally concealed. It was filed in 2011 by the former Atlanta Falcons player Ray Easterling at the U.S District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Ray was also joined by over 4,500 former NFL players, including former Eagles quarterback Jim McMahon, former Bears player Dave Duerson, and many more.

While there were a myriad of players who suffered from CTE, the former Pittsburgh Steelers center and Hall of Famer’s death brought it into the limelight in 2002.

Although he passed away after a heart attack, his postmortem revealed a different reality. He reportedly suffered from dementia, amnesia, and anxiety because of CTE, and his playing career largely contributed to it. The repeated hits to his head during his NFL days caused him severe brain damage.

After a four-year battle, the case was settled in 2015 with an uncapped settlement of $1 billion. It was announced that the settlement would be valid for 65 years, meaning the NFL is bound to pay affected players for the next 55 years or more.

Over the first nine years of the settlement, 14,000 claims were filed by former players, but only 4,000 were approved. There are distinctive payouts for each diagnosis. For example, early dementia’s compensation is $1.5 million, and the players with Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s are slated to get $3.5 million each. An ALS diagnosis has the highest payout, totalling $5 million.

Amid this massive financial burden for the next half century, the NFL has been coerced to bend rules to minimize the CTE among the current players, who might be eligible to get the settlement money in the future.

NFL rule changes have reshaped defensive play

While the league remains physically demanding, the frequency of direct hits has been reduced since the lawsuit, altering the earlier defensive identity. As Woodson mentioned, quarterbacks are heavily protected in the current era, unlike in old-school football.

The defenders aren’t allowed to hit below the knees, neck, and head, while a 2017 rule change has banned defenders from landing on QBs with their complete bodyweight after Aaron Rodgers broke his collarbone during a brutal collision with former Vikings LB Anthony Barr.

Moreover, the helmet hit was made illegal in 2013, which played a major role in the development of CTE in players. A new Use of Helmet rule was introduced in 2018, prohibiting lowering the helmet to make contact with an opponent player. Violating it could result in a 15-yard penalty or even disqualification.

The Use of Helmet rule was further updated in 2023. Headbutting to the neck or head area is not permitted under the new league guidelines, another important step to lower CTE cases among players. In addition, the new Dynamic Kickoff rule introduced in 2024 reshaped teams’ defensive strategies and reduced concussion rates by eliminating the full-speed running start.

While these drastic steps might have made the game less interesting for some fans, including an old-generation player like Woodson, they have marginally enhanced the safety barrier. A 2024 report suggested that the concussion rate fell by 43 percent compared to the average of the previous three seasons.