Washington Commanders linebacker Frankie Luvu has had a tough 48 hours. On Saturday, the NFL announced that he was fined $46,372 for a hip-drop tackle against the Kansas City Chiefs tight end Noah Gray.
To make things worse, the league announced that he was also being suspended a game for repeated violations of playing rules intended to protect the health and safety of players.
According to reports, Luvu will be appealing the suspension as it is believed he is the first player in the NFL to be suspended for the hip-drop tackle since it became a rule.
The hip-drop tackle become a rule in March of 2024, when the teams voted to ban it in a unanimous vote. The league statement when it became a rule included the following.
“A hip-drop tackle occurs when a defender wraps up a ball carrier and rotates or swivels his hips, unweighting himself and dropping onto ball carrier’s legs during the tackle.”
The NFL has had a difficult time when it comes to this being a penalty during a game. Many times, a player is fined after the fact, but the play wasn’t called a penalty.
In the last calendar year, Luvu has been fined three times for a hip-drop tackle, but he hasn’t been penalized for any of the tackles.
He was also fined $23,186 after a Week 4 tackle against Michael Penix Jr, while also being fined $16,883 for a tackle against Jahmyr Gibbs in last season’s playoff game.
The loss of Luvu potentially for next week’s game against the Detroit Lions is another loss for a team that is dealing with major injuries. Jayden Daniels, Luke McCaffrey and Marshon Lattimore all suffered major injuries in the loss to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday night
Luvu currently has the third most tackles on the team with 50 tackles, while also having a forced fumble.
As of now, Luvu is eligible to return to the game on Nov. 10, the day after the Lions game. While he is looking to win an appeal, the league is trying extremely hard to take this type of play out of the game. While it is hard to determine if it is a penalty during this game, the suspension could send a message to other players in the league to not make this type of tackle.
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