PHOENIX - The NFL wants to put the shoulder back into football and take the helmet out.

It took a significant step toward accomplishing that Wednesday when the league's owners overwhelmingly approved a rule-change proposal that will make it illegal for offensive or defensive players to initiate "forcible contact" outside the tackle box by delivering a blow with the crown of the helmet.

The proposal passed by a 31-1 vote. The only club to vote against it was the Cincinnati Bengals.

A number of current and retired players, many of them running backs, were not in favor of the new rule. Several of the league's coaches also had reservations about it. Most of their concerns had to do with the officials' ability to differentiate between an intentional blow and a ballcarrier just ducking his head to protect himself or the ball.

"As a runner, your whole goal is to get lower than the tackler," said former Eagles running back Brian Westbrook. "Part of it is putting your head down. It's hard to play the sport without being able to do that.

"It's a very subjective rule. Like any penalty, they're going to have to decide when is it appropriate to call it. I understand that the league is trying to make rules that can help these players stay healthy. But you're going to get hit in the head playing football. It can't be avoided."

The league thinks it can reduce the number of concussions with the new rule.

"We view ourselves as a league that has to be a leader in this area," said Falcons president Rich McKay, who co-chairs the league's competition committee with Rams coach Jeff Fisher.

"Our hope is that our rule changes can impact those levels below us: high school, youth football, college or whatever it might be."

One of the plays that the league used as an example of what they are trying to eliminate with this rule is the vicious crown-of-the-helmet hit by Browns running back Trent Richardson on Eagles safety Kurt Coleman in Week 1 last season. Richardson caught Coleman right under the facemask and knocked his helmet off.

"We're just trying to get the shoulder back in the game," Fisher said. "We understand that (when) the shoulder goes (down), the head is going to come with it. We just feel that on the Richardson play, he had (other) options and didn't have to lower his head like that and hit him in that manner."

Dean Blandino, the league's vice president of officiating, said they went through every play from Weeks 10 and 16 last season and came up with just 11 instances where the new rule would have applied.

The owners approved a total of six rule changes at the their three-day meeting, including the abolishment of the infamous "tuck rule" that helped the Patriots beat the Raiders in a 2001 playoff game.