Here’s the Dude’s fix to the QB sliding rule…

Instead of a slide being the signal that the QB is giving himself up, I suggest two options—

1- Instead of a slide, the QB puts his hand up (the hand not holding the ball) with his head hanging down. It’s akin to a fair catch. Both feet have to be on the ground when he raises his hand (he can’t be in a full sprint), so there’s an early signal to the defense that he’s giving himself up. He essentially needs to be slowing down. Also, the defense will not be penalized if they hit him within a yard of when he raises his hand and the contact—it’s not an immediate dead ball. So if he raises it at the 50, they wont be penalized if they hit him as he moves from the 50 and the 49. But they need to be pulling up. This may need to be expanded to two yards bc once the QB raises his hand, he becomes a defenseless player with all the rules involved with that.

The danger of the slide is that defenders are naturally lunging at the ball carrier’s midsection, which becomes the QB’s head if he slides, leading to the classic situation where the QB’s head bares the brunt of the impact and gets slammed into the ground. This keeps the QB’s head protected.

2- Do away with the slide rule bc the players (esp. QBs) are already protected so much that it’s become ridiculous. You scramble, you’re gonna get hit…pussy.