So someone AE's size should have to block someone above the waist the size of Ron Edwards?
Don't think so.
There are some simple changes they can make to curb the risks, but they're going way over board to protect people who know what they signed up for. There wasn't anywhere near this much talk or concern about safety, immediate or long term, when I was a fireman. I knew what the risks were of falling through a floor or ceiling, getting burned, getting pneumonia, etc, etc.
Yeah, I don't agree with that either. Maybe they could devise a rule where blocking below or at the KNEE beyond the line of scrimmage is illegal. That would be more reasonable.
Jack it's all about reasonable risks whether it's NFL players or firemen. You provided essential services with understood dangers, but if your fire marshall had insisted you work amid unnecessary risk because that's the way we did it back in the day and it's taking away from fire fighting - and you were injured or died as a result, I guarantee there would be a lawsuit.