Former Vikes DE Jim Marshall Thinks Rules Protecting QBs Are 'Absolutely Ridiculous'

It's a good thing the Vikings gave Jared Allen all that money in the offseason (although had he known Barack Obama was going to take half of it, he might've asked for more) because he's out $75,000 in the last 10 days for various on-field transgressions. Two-and-a-half weeks ago, Allen tried to manually remove both of Matt Schaub's legs, and Sunday against the Packers, he roughed up Aaron Rodgers (see moving pictures above).

Via the Star Tribune's Access Vikings blog, Chip Scoggins writes that former Vikes defensive end Jim Marshall stopped by practice and was kind enough to share his thoughts on today's fine-happy NFL.

"I think it's crazy," he said. "I think it's just absolutely ridiculous. Football is a rough game. They've pretty much taken the quarterback with the protection that he's got, you can't put your hands on him, you can't touch him. If you're in the air and he gets the ball off and you happen to hit him, they want to fine you. You can't play all-out if you're doing those kinds of things. They got too many rules now. ...

[Scoggins] asked Marshall how much he would be fined for hits if he played today.

"Oh man, with the rules they have today, I would get no salary and probably be suspended for most of the season," he said. "It's just crazy."

Marshall added that he's a big fan of Allen's: "He's doing such a fine job ... He's just one hell of a football player. I really admire him."

Schaub might disagree, but Marshall's overall point is a good one: the NFL's insistence on protecting quarterbacks, even at the risk of changing what it means to play tackle football, is absurd. Just not as absurd as this.