Football is a brutal sport. And even as the league looks to take dangerous hits and blocks out of the game, you’re still going to see major contact and injuries. That’s just the nature of such a violent game.
But you just know that the league office is proud of Colts guard Quenton Nelson. He had a chance to de-cleat an opponent, but instead, he found a *legal* way to be effective in his block without putting an opponent’s health at risk.
The play in question happened during Sunday’s Week 2 matchup between the Colts and Packers, and we could see as the Packers’ Kingsley Enagbare spun off pass protection to pursue Anthony Richardson out of the pocket. As he was doing that, he was totally unaware of Nelson.
Man, I thought this was about to be a murder. Nelson did about the nicest/legal thing he could have done here lol pic.twitter.com/BFdQSszwWc
— Ben Fennell (@BenFennell_NFL) September 16, 2024
At the speed Enagbare was pursuing Richardson, Nelson easily could have planted his feet and unleashed a devastating blindside block on Enagbare. Of course, it likely would have been a penalty (and cause a potential injury). So, Nelson took the nicest approach ever. He extended his arm and kindly guided Enagbare away from that pursuit.
And somehow, Enagbare still fell pretty hard. Imagine if that happened 20 years ago — it would be a totally different story for Enagbare.
Fans still found the clip hilarious, though. The game really has changed.
This was how Twitter/X reacted
Nelson knows the rules. https://t.co/Z9BwbavNLS
— Geoff Schwartz (@geoffschwartz) September 16, 2024
The Gentle Blindside Block 😂 https://t.co/JO1KVWVsgF
— Coach Dan Casey (@CoachDanCasey) September 16, 2024
20 years ago that could’ve been a huge hit and play would’ve resumed…wow how football has changed aha https://t.co/OKf8QznxW9
— Drewww (@Drewww_by) September 16, 2024
15 years ago that’s ending like this https://t.co/7EIBegObsw pic.twitter.com/iOtMDQd51f
— A Figment of Your Imagination (@peagle05) September 16, 2024
An example of where the NFL needs to go in order to survive. Sure, decleating him would’ve made highlights and been cool a decade ago but this type of block has the same effectiveness and doesn’t ruin brains. https://t.co/MpcHxSBFHw
— Jake Burns (@jake_burns18) September 16, 2024
This is hilarious. We’ve seen Nelson decapitate defenders (legally) before but he chose non-violence on this one. https://t.co/KsrFhEa3zM
— Michael Peterson (@ZoneTracks) September 16, 2024
Not the thumbs up lmfao https://t.co/HRWduXQe5j pic.twitter.com/pVB7MEigEW
— Marcus Newling (@MarcusNewling) September 16, 2024
