The NFL has spent the last decade tightening up player safety rules, and quarterbacks end up at the center of most of it. Roughing the passer calls have gotten stricter. Helmet-to-helmet contact draws flags faster. Tackle techniques that used to fly away before don’t anymore.
Medical research linking repeated hits to brain damage pushed a lot of these changes, and the league wanted to cut down on serious injuries while avoiding lawsuits. Games get called differently now, and plenty of fans have noticed.
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Joe Flacco weighed in on that shift recently, and he did not mince words. The veteran quarterback appeared on This Is Football with Kevin Clark and said the league has drifted too far from what made football physical in the first place.
He went after the officiating, the safety standards, and how much the game has changed since he entered the league.
“I don’t think anybody coming into the league these days is quite as battle tested as guys that came into the league 15 years ago,” Flacco said. “It honestly annoys me because it affects games in a negative way at random times. And they can call it or not call it. It needs to get out of the game. They need to go back to it. I know CTE is a thing these days and all that, but it’s football. We signed up to play it.”
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I asked Joe Flacco if the NFL has a quarterback development problem and he launched an impassioned take on how personal calls have changed games and hurt the position and sport.
"We signed up to get hurt, you might not like that but it's what we kinda did." Watch: pic.twitter.com/51fkGnMnGY
— Kevin Clark (@bykevinclark) February 4, 2026
Joe Flacco isn’t loving where the NFL is headed
Flacco was not dismissing CTE or pretending player safety doesn’t matter. His complaint was about how the rules are applied. He thinks the league has overcorrected, and now routine contact or hits that were normal a decade ago result in penalties and fines.
That eats away at the game’s identity, in his view. He also worries younger players won’t develop the same kind of edge or instincts that came from playing in a rougher era.
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NFL line judge Jeff Seeman (left) and referee Shawn Smith (14) discuss a call during the fourth quarter between the Baltimore Ravens and the Pittsburgh Steelers at Acrisure Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
“As a fan, I just don’t like it,” Flacco added. “Guys can’t even play defense as aggressively, because they’re getting fined so much money for just normal hits. It’s changed the game a lot….I’m just kind of ranting here. We signed up to get concussions. We signed up to get hurt. It is what it is. You might not like that, but that’s what we kind of did when we decided to play this game.”
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Plenty might push back on Flacco’s take. The rule changes came after years of research connecting head trauma to serious health problems later in life. Limiting dangerous hits is supposed to protect players from long-term damage they don’t have to risk.
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Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins (18) throws an incomplete pass as he is hit by New Orleans Saints defensive end Chase Young (99) and defensive tackle Khristian Boyd (97) during the first half at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images
Fans of the current rules also point out that penalties like roughing the passer have reduced some of the worst late contact. Even when a call seems questionable, the bigger goal is player health.
Flacco’s comments still hit on a question the NFL keeps running into. Can the game stay violent and physical while also protecting the guys playing it better? That’s not getting resolved anytime soon.
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