4 Dirty Steelers Plays That Directly Led to NFL Rule Changes
3. Hines Ward Rule
If having rules named after your players was a good thing, the Steelers would be the NFL's model franchise.
Hines Ward was voted the NFL's dirtiest player by a panel of 296 fellow players back in 2009, and Ed Reed has gone on record that Ward was the dirtiest player he ever faced. Realistically it was Ward's entire body of work that got him the reputation (and a rule named after him), but as usual it took one specific, serious injury for the league to actually act on it.
The block by Hines Ward on this play broke Keith Rivers jaw and ended his season in a regular season game played at Paul Brown Stadium in 2008. pic.twitter.com/BsO3AGIBXw
— Billy Hartford (@BudDupreeFan) September 6, 2022
This one was just a regular season game, so at least we know Ward's dirty play was consistent no matter what the stakes.
Ward had made a career of these crack-back blocks — taking every opportunity he could to lay a devastating hit on someone who had no possible way of seeing it coming. And in aiming for the head, it's clear he was looking to do more than just take a defender out of the play.
Rivers was just a rookie in his seventh NFL game here, and Ward's hit shattered his jaw, ending his season.
The NFL quickly implemented the "Hines Ward Rule" after the season, making it illegal to use your head, shoulder or forearm to make contact with an opponent's head or neck while making a blindside crack-back block.