NFL teams
Todd Archer, ESPN Staff Writer 6y

Jerry Jones: Pro football needs to be different from college, high school

NFL, Dallas Cowboys

FRISCO, Texas -- Dallas Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones said the new emphasis on roughing the passer that bars a defender from landing with his full body weight on the quarterback has altered the game "as much as any one [rule] I have seen make a change from our past."

Speaking on 105.3 The Fan in Dallas on Tuesday, Jones said the game played at the pro level needs to be different from the one played in high school and college.

"The way I see our future is, I see a real serious emphasis on youth football, amateur football," Jones said. "I see it reflected at the high school level. ... I see a collegiate game that certainly has a lot of finesse in it, but is a great game and makes these kinds of adjustments we're talking about.

"But when it comes to pro football, to use a boxing term, that's when you put the 6-ounce gloves on. That's when you don't want to fight with those 10-ounce gloves or you don't fight with those headgears. ... You're paid a lot of money to go out and incur those type situations that have more risks in them."

In Sunday's loss to the Seattle Seahawks, Cowboys defensive lineman Tyrone Crawford was called for roughing the passer after hitting Russell Wilson. After the game, Jones said, "That was not roughing the passer under the existing rules" and added that Crawford "was attempting to finesse the tackle."

Crawford said the league "is trying to get us on petty stuff," and he expects to be fined, but he's glad to hear the league's competition committee will discuss the roughing the passer penalties.

"You grow up hitting and hitting, like, going full speed and you know one way to do it," Crawford said on a conference call. "I mean when you've been doing something your whole life, it's hard to change, especially now at this point in your career. And then at that [particular] time when you see a sack, you go even harder. Or you see a quarterback, you go harder trying to get there before the ball is thrown. And to pull off at literally the last millisecond is kind of hard.

"I do understand some of the rules they have going for the protection of the players, but I can't lie to myself and say I agree with that one because it's just really hard to do what we've been learning something our whole life. It's definitely against our instincts to pull off."

Jones said that it's important for the NFL to distinguish itself from other levels of football in terms of physicality.

"That's very important," Jones said. "Now, where to find that balance, that's one thing. But when we get to a point in the future in time, you'll see pro football where they've put the 6-ounce gloves on and where the men are playing."

Green Bay Packers linebacker Clay Matthews has been at the center of the new rule for the past three games, with hits that have been called penalties. Miami's William Hayes suffered a torn ACL when he was attempting to avoid putting his body weight on Oakland quarterback Derek Carr.

Quarterbacks Ben Roethlisberger and Aaron Rodgers have also been critical of the new rule.

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