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INDIANAPOLIS -- The NFL will punish teams next season if their players commit multiple flagrant hits that result in fines.

The punishment will be financial, although league vice president Adolpho Birch said Tuesday he didn't rule out Commissioner Roger Goodell applying further sanctions such as stripping clubs of draft choices.

Citing the "notion of club accountability," Birch says details such as the amount of the fines against clubs, or how many player fines would trigger punishment, have not been determined.

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If the commissioner is serious about going so far as to strip teams of draft choices, you can bet coaches will emphasize tackling within the rules, Mike Sando writes. Blog

"As a club's total increases to a certain threshold, we will enforce some ... payback to encourage clubs to stay below that threshold," Birch said. "We're looking at a system similar to one we instituted a couple years ago with off-field conduct."

The NFL began a crackdown on illegal hits, particularly those to defenseless players, last October. It threatened suspensions, but no players were suspended. However, Ray Anderson, the league's chief disciplinarian, has said suspensions will be considered for egregious hits this season.

Now, the clubs are being put on notice as well as the players that illegal hits will result in substantial discipline.

Birch would not identify which teams from 2010 would have been subject to fines had the policy been in place, but did say at least three teams might have been punished.

One player, Pittsburgh All-Pro linebacker James Harrison, was fined $100,000 for flagrant hits last season.

"We'll check the number of fines and the level of fines going out for infractions that relate to various player safety violations," Birch said. "Particularly head and helmet issues."

The 32 owners voted unanimously Tuesday to approve rules amendments for player safety, including a measure aimed at keeping a player from launching himself into a defenseless opponent. A 15-yard penalty will result for anyone who leaves both feet before contact to spring forward and upward into an opponent and delivers a blow to the helmet with any part of his helmet.

Such tackles will also be subject to fines.

The definition of a defenseless receiver already has been extended. Now, a receiver who has not had time to protect himself or has not clearly become a runner even if both feet are on the ground is considered defenseless.

Defenseless players cannot be hit in the head or neck area with the helmet, facemask, forearm or shoulder. The definition of such players now includes those throwing a pass; attempting or completing a catch without having time to ward off or avoid contact; a runner whose forward progress has been stopped by a tackler; kickoff or punt returners while the ball is in the air; kickers or punters during a kick or a return; a quarterback during a change of possession; a player who receives a blindside block from a blocker moving toward his own end zone.

"

Rulewise, I think the competition committee is clear that we are not trying to change rules, but change the emphasis, and that message has been delivered loud and clear to the players.
" -- Rich McKay, co-chair of competition committee

Penalized players are subject to being ejected for flagrant fouls.

"This should permanently change the mentality of a defensive player trying to loosen the ball to change your target point," said competition committee co-chairman Rich McKay, president of the Atlanta Falcons. "There were too many hits in the last three years that were legal but we not ones we were comfortable that the player who got hit had any chance to protect himself."

Also, hits to the head of a passer that are not considered "forcible" blows will not be penalized.

"We are not saying to take the physicality out of the game in any way, shape or form," McKay said. "There are still lots of hits that are legal."

Separately, Birch confirmed that using the World Anti-Doping Agency to administer the league's drug policy is a possibility.

"From a procedural standpoint, we need to look at those options. That would be one option," he said. "We are certainly looking into that to see what that means for us and to see what that does to advance the idea that the NFL remains the leader in this area. What that means, we'll find out, but we are going to take a look at it."

The league also canceled next month's rookie symposium, the first league event called off because of the lockout.

"We waited as long as we possibly could," Birch said. "The rookie symposium is an extremely large, complex event that requires a lot of people from an attendance standpoint. Based on the uncertainty in the labor situation, it's to the point we needed to be fair to those who would come to help us put it on."

The symposium, which was to begin June 26 in Canton, Ohio, instructs rookies in money management and life skills and allows them to meet current and former players.

Teams and their draftees have not been allowed to communicate since the NFL gained a stay in court upholding the lockout. The league's appeal of an injunction lifting it will be heard in U.S. District Court on June 3.

"Obviously I'm disappointed because I think the symposium is a valuable learning and bonding experience," player agent David Canter said. One of his clients, linebacker Doug Hogue, was drafted by Detroit.

Agent Ben Dogra, who along with partner Tom Condon represents five first-round draft choices this year, didn't expect the symposium to take place.

"The truth is, how can you cancel an event that isn't supposed to happen anyway since there is a lockout," Dogra said. "The NFL is closed for business. Thus, to hold a rookie symposium wouldn't make any logical sense."


Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press