San Francisco 49ers tight end Vernon Davis is seeking for a rule change on tackling.
During the third quarter of the 49ers' 23-13 victory over the St. Louis Rams, Davis broke free near the San Francisco sidelines for a pass from quarterback Colin Kaepernick when Rams safety T.J. McDonald came up with a unique way of tackling him.
As McDonald was chasing down Davis, his left hand wrapped around Davis' crotch, and McDonald wouldn't let go until Davis fell out of bounds. A video replay shows Davis writhing in pain on the ground, holding his groin, immediately after the play.
According to Laces Out, the NFL blog on foxsports.com, Davis tweeted a proposal for a new league rule in similar situations.
"It should be a league rule saying that a defender can not tackle a player by his (word blacked out). #NFL the most painful thing ever #NFL," Davis' post said.
According to the blog, Davis later took down the tweet, but the video seems to indicate that McDonald did hold on to the region for a considerable amount of time while the play unfolded.
SFGate.com quoted Davis on Sunday talking about the incident.
"Definitely hurting, definitely," Davis said an hour after the game. "He broke some skin ... That's crazy right there."
Later in the game, Davis came back and hurdled over Rams defender Janoris Jenkins on a reception and ended up scoring on the 17-yard pass play.
Wide receiver Anquan Boldin, Davis' teammate said that Davis needs to "Stay on the ground" rather than try to hurdle the defender to protect himself from getting a vicious hit while being airborne.
Davis said his move was instinct-driven, but the previous takedown may have played a part.
"Over pretty much my whole career," Davis said, "anytime that I get the ball in my hands, defenders are coming for my knees and my ankles and things like that."
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