In the first "legal" hit (Lions vs Saints) in the linked NFL video, all the receiver would have to do in that situation is lower his head and suddenly, by the league's definition (in this video), the hit is illegal. However, that's not the point of my post.

Here are the problems that I see in all this "safety first" talk from the NFL regarding helmet to helmet hits and the disciplines handed out for those hits:
• Using the league's definition, I see helmet to helmet hits on defenseless QB's and receivers every week, which are not called. I understand the "bang bang" nature of the plays, but shouldn't those players be getting fined even if they're not penalized in the game?
• The league needs a uniform standard for punishment. The punishments for these hits seem completely subjective and incongruent. One hit will get fine x dollars while another will get fined y for the basically the same infraction.

James Harrison has received much more negative press for his hits than other players with multiple infractions. Is the league actually going to start suspending other players for similar hits?

If they're taking past offenses into account, are they going to suspend a high profile player like Ray Lewis? He has multiple fines in the past 3 seasons alone for helmet to helmet hits (plus one for kicking another player) and I sincerely doubt he would have been suspended for the hit that Harrison put on McCoy last week.
• The league needs to hold teams accountable for keep players with head injuries out of the game. The Steelers have been great at doing this this season. Hines Ward and Polamalu have been restricted to the sidelines after receiving hits, just to be safe. Whereas, the hit that Harrison got suspended for seemed to obviously affect Colt McCoy's brain in some fashion and yet the coaching staff looked at his hand and rushed him back out there. Maybe the league will do something, but they don't seem to be in any hurry to.

I'm having a hard time seeing why they would take so long to deliberate on what the coaching and training staff did or didn't do, when the result was a player with a head injury (from a suspend-able offense) playing in a game when he shouldn't have.

Overall, the league is inconsistent with the officiating of these hits, with inconsistent punishments, and they seem to penalize players more if the public is complaining loudly enough. The "player safety" smells of a PR move to me, especially coming from a league that has a history of abandoning players after their profitability has ceased.

I've had an NFL ref tell me explicitly there is no consensus among officials whether or not to call helmet-to-helmet if the offinesive player lowers his head into the defensive players helmet. This guy told me he would not call it but others might.

@Dan - Thanks. I honestly love James Harrison's "don't care" attitude and find it refreshing. How many players would turn down an opportunity to meet the president of the United States merely on the principle of the president only wanting to meet the Super Bowl winners?

However, I'm afraid that his reckless candor, whether it be regarding hits or his feelings on Goodell, has made the target on his back all the more bigger.