ASHBURN, Va. — Frankie Luvu still seemed startled by the past few days as camera lights flashed at his locker on Wednesday and a crowd of reporters gathered around. Two days earlier, the Commanders linebacker became the subject of headlines and social media fodder when the NFL suspended him for repeated violations of its ban on hip-drop tackles, a ruling that was later overturned on appeal.
“Everything I worked for is kinda out there,” Luvu told the reporters. “… My family, they see it, and also my peers are looking toward me like, ‘Oh we don’t respect Frankie Luvu because he’s a dirty (player),’ and all those lines.”
Luvu was fined twice earlier this season for hip-drop tackles, after games against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 4 and the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 8. His third violation came in the first quarter of Washington’s loss to the Seahawks Sunday night, on what appeared to be a routine play. Luvu lined up at defensive end, dropped in coverage after the snap and then turned inside to try to bring down Seattle receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba. Luvu grabbed Smith-Njigba from behind, unweighted his body and swung it around the receiver, then landed on his legs as both players hit the ground.
There was no flag on the play. No indication from officials that Luvu had erred. But on Monday, he received a letter from the NFL saying he was suspended for a Week 9 game against the Detroit Lions. Although Luvu successfully appealed the ruling and had the punishment reduced to a $100,000 fine, he worried about his reputation.
More significant: He, and others in the Commanders’ locker room, said they’re unclear on what the NFL deems a punishable hip-drop tackle. Some indicated they weren’t even sure why the NFL was trying to get rid of them or what they’re supposed to do to avoid them.
“That’s the question I’m trying to ask myself and ask them — what is it?’ Luvu said. “It’s frustrating for me sometimes because you look at it, all the plays that they’ve seen it at, and to see what they’re looking at … I think they’re still trying to figure out what is a hip drop and that’s out of my control.”
In an effort to gain clarity with the league about its ban on hip-drop tackles, and to learn what he can change to avoid future violations, Luvu, at his request, spoke with NFL Vice President of Policy and Rules Administration Jon Runyan on Friday, according to two league sources.
The meeting was purely educational, and one Luvu had said he hoped to have.
“‘What are you guys looking at?’” Luvu had said he wanted to ask the league. “‘What ways can I work to (be better) like on the practice field?’ … Obviously, they got a target on my back. I’m under a microscope and I’m working on it and trying to be better every day.”
The NFL’s competition committee first proposed banning the hip-drop tackle in 2023, saying it resulted in an injury rate 20 to 25 percent higher than other tackles. The injuries are often significant, like the ankle injury Ravens tight end Mark Andrews suffered as the result of a hip-drop tackle in 2023, or the dislocated ankle Buccaneers receiver Chris Godwin sustained after a hip-drop tackle the following season.
NFL owners unanimously approved a ban of the “swivel” hip-drop tackle in March of 2024 over the objection of players on both sides of the ball.
“We’ve created a game now where only the offense can really make an impact,” quarterback-turned-analyst Tom Brady said shortly after the ban.
Former Texans pass rusher JJ Watt posted on X: “Just fast forward to the belts with flags on them…”
Pat McAfee ranted that it was just a dumb decision” before tempering his comments a day later during an interview with Commissioner Roger Goodell.
The league’s definition of the hip-drop includes three parts, all of which have to be present to be punishable: A tackling player grabs or wraps a runner, unweights his body and swivels around the runner, and lands on or traps the runner’s legs. The foul results in a 15-yard penalty and first down for the offense.
But so far, it has rarely been penalized in games, an outcome the league said it anticipated. Instead, the NFL uses its schedule of fines to penalize players days later, with the hope the financial pressures will eliminate the injurious play.
Dawn Aponte, the NFL’s chief football administrative officer, said in April that 27 players were fined for hip-drop tackles in 2024. Only one was penalized in the game, but the call was incorrect, according to the league.
“That’s tough because I think everybody’s still trying to figure out what it is and what’s the letter to the law, because when you watch the games, he’s not being penalized for them,” Commanders linebacker Bobby Wagner said when asked about Luvu’s fines. “So a lot of the time as a player, if you’re in the league and you’re doing something and nothing’s penalized, you walk away from the game thinking everything’s fine. And then you get the letter in the mail and you’re like, ‘Oh, it’s not fine.’ It lets you know that everybody’s still trying to figure out what this thing is and how they’re officiating, how we can do better.”
Fellow Commanders linebacker Jordan Magee said the hip-drop is just “a football play” and “you can’t really control how you tackle somebody.”
“I could see like back then when (Dick) ‘Night Train Lane’ was clotheslining people and stuff like that,” he said.
Washington safety Percy Butler had a similar reaction.
“From the video evidence there is (clarity), but in the game, you’re not thinking that,” he said. “It’s just ‘get the motherf—– down.’ In the game, you can sense it, but there’s nothing you can do to stop it.”
Defensive end Jacob Martin concurred, saying his lone goal is to get the runner down and move on to the next play, while lamenting the challenges defenders face with added restrictions on tackling.
That sparked reaction from cornerback Jonathan Jones, sitting at a locker across from him.,
“They say, ‘Hey, this is the way it’s wrong,’” Jones said. “But (the NFL) can’t show a right way. They can’t do that.”
When owners approved the ban, Goodell said that he anticipated a “transition period” for the league and its officials, much like there was when the NFL eliminated hits to the helmet of all defenseless players and prohibited players from lowering their helmet to initiate contact, the latter of which is mostly enforced through fines instead of in-game penalties.
At the start of the season, videos of illegal hip-drop tackles were shared by the league with all 32 teams to educate coaches and players on what the league is looking for. Rules videos are also shared with clubs each week, noting the fouls that are trending up around the league in an effort to re-educate players.
Wagner said if a player wants clarity on why he was fined for a play that wasn’t penalized, the league will send the player a clip to show what it saw to justify the ruling. But Wagner indicated there’s little other explanation available.
“I’ve always believed that we always make it harder for the defense,” Wagner said. “… But we’ve always been able to adjust. … They’ve been changing rules on us since I got here, and we always adjust.”
As for Luvu, he insisted that his physical style of play won’t change and that he’s “going to leave it up to the league to figure out what they see on the plays that I make.”
“That’s what we preach and that’s what got me this far,” he said. “ … I play one way, and that’s fast, physical and downhill.”
