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\u2019t anymore.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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MORE: Fanatics issues apology for Super Bowl 60 gear shortage, fan backlash<\/a><\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n He went after the officiating, the safety standards, and how much the game has changed since he entered the league.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think anybody coming into the league these days is quite as battle tested as guys that came into the league 15 years ago,\u201d Flacco said. \u201cIt 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\u2019s football. We signed up to play it.\u201d<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n \n 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. <\/p>\n "We signed up to get hurt, you might not like that but it's what we kinda did." Watch: pic.twitter.com\/51fkGnMnGY<\/a><\/p>\n — Kevin Clark (@bykevinclark) February 4, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n