Legal or Not? The Most Brutal Hits of the 2013 NFL Season (So Far)

Here comes the BOOM.

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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In the wake of Rob Gronkowski's season-ending knee injury, a new discussion about big hits and the NFL has emerged: Are any of the league's new tackling rules actually effective? Browns safety T.J. Ward old reporters after the game that he went low at Gronk because he knew any high hits could result in a penalty and a fine. He purposely tried to deliver the "safer" hit—the one away from the head—and still ended up delivering a concussion, along with a torn ACL and MCL. It's a double-edged sword for the NFL—if they cut out those dangerous shots to the head, they put the legs and those oh so valuable ACLs at risk. Really, the NFL is an inherently violent and dangerous game, and unless they constrain spears to only above the knees and below the shoulders (like a strike zone in baseball), bad injuries will keep flying in. 

That being said, it feels right to look back at some of the hardest hits of this 2013 NFL season so far, and determine whether or not they were actually legal. As players like Bernard PollardTroy Polamalu, and Pat McAfee have shown this season, it's actually possible for defenders to come across and deal bone-crushing hits in a legal way. Notice what's legal and what's not in The Most Brutal Hits of the 2013 NFL Season Thus Far.

Clay Matthews Mauls Colin Kaepernick

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Bernard Pollard's Reputation Precedes him

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Malcom Floyd Left Immobilized By DeMeco Ryans

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Aaron Rodgers' Collarbone Snaps

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Danny Amendola Goes To Sleep

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Mike Tolbert's Helmet Knocks-Out Eric Reid

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Le'Veon Bell Loses A Lot More Than His Helmet

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The Hit That May Have Ended Jermichael Finley's Career

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Brandon Meriweather Does Exactly What the NFL Wants To Stop

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William Moore Auditions For the WWE

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Vernon Davis Gets Pulled Down By His Manhood

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Brandon Meriweather Gets a Taste of His Own Medicine

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T.J. Ward Ends Gronk's Season

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Punter Pat McAfee Levels Trindon Holliday, Who Isn't a Punter

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Drew Brees' Neck Gets Giraffe'd

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Troy Polamalu Does More Than Just Head & Shoulders Commercials

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