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By Cory Giger
For the Mirror
Football must change. The thinking must change. The attitudes must change.
Because safety should always be the most important thing. And throughout the history of football, safety has really never been the most important thing -- specifically head safety.
We are, thankfully, finally in the midst of a change in football. It took decades and thousands of players at all levels suffering countless concussions -- and some dying with CTE or other health problems caused by football -- for people to realize, accept and wake up to the dangers of the vicious game.
Do not hit players in the head. Period. End of story.
That should be the absolute No. 1 rule in football.
And if you hit a player in the head, there will be severe consequences.
There MUST be severe consequences, because if all you do is slap the culprit on the wrist, then it really won't be as big of a deterrent.
Targeting continues to be a problem in football, at the college and professional levels. It's a problem because there are still far too many plays where one dude is crushing another dude in the head.
It happened in Penn State's game Saturday at Wisconsin. Ellis Brooks crushed Badger quarterback Graham Mertz in the head. It's undeniable.
Oh, but he hit him in the shoulder first. Oh, but maybe it wasn't fully with the crown of the helmet. Oh, but ... but ... but.
I don't care.
Brooks drilled the dude in the head. It was targeting. And Brooks was ejected from the game.
I have absolutely zero problem with this. Again, because the best way to truly reinforce to football players that they cannot, under any circumstance, just drill an opponent in the head is to not let them play.
Not letting an athlete play his or her sport is always the most effective deterrent.
We certainly can have debates on whether some hits in some games are indeed targeting. It is a lightning fast game, and officials don't always see things clearly in live action. That's what replay is for.
And yes, sometimes replay isn't fully conclusive. There also are human beings studying the replays, making the entire process a subjective one.
One replay official in one game might see something as targeting. On a similar play, another replay official somewhere else might not. Those rules and standards definitely need to be made more clear, so as to help alleviate as much ambiguity as possible.
But I will make this point perfectly clear: If a guy is indeed called for targeting in college football, then he needs to be ejected from the game.
I don't care if it was a close call. I don't care if he's a really good player. I don't care if it changes the outcome of the game.
I care about player safety.
But shouldn't intent be a factor?
No.
I tell my kids that if they accidentally do something that hurts someone, they still hurt someone. Because ALL actions have consequences, so you'd better make sure you do everything you can to avoid doing so -- accident or not.
Don't hit guys in the head, on purpose or on accident, and you can stay in the game and play.
We need to stop making excuses for this violent sport and continue to make progress toward finding every way possible to keep players safe.
Cory Giger is a Penn State beat writer for DK Pittsburgh Sports and host of "Sports Central" weekday afternoons from 4-5 on WRTA. Contact him at cgsports12@aol.com.