Dear NFL, I have a solution to your helmet-to-helmet hit problem.

Get rid of the helmets.

You can't have a helmet-to-helmet hit if your players aren't wearing helmets. Duh!

I'd like to see Brandon Merriweather of New England try to head-butt another dude without some molded polycarbonate alloy protecting his dome.

Sure, it sounds far-fetched. But at least it's more reasonable than the NFL's current solution.

The league has threatened to suspend players without pay for any head-to-head hits it deems illegal.

Sorry to inform the NFL of this fact, but helmet-to-helmet hits are going to happen — a lot. It's pretty much impossible to avoid.

There is a line, though. Merriweather crossed it with his hit on Baltimore's Todd Heap. But that was the only hit Sunday that was over the top. The other hits that were seemingly run on a loop by ESPN were all cases of heads being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

This is a classic case of overreaction.

I feel for James Harrison. His hit on fellow Kent Stater Josh Cribbs was unfortunate, but the fault of no one.

Cribbs ducked his head to lunge for an extra yard as Harrison lowered his upper body to make a tackle. The heads collided. It happens.

Harrison's hit on Mohamed Massaquoi was a little more questionable — Harrison did thrust his arms high toward Massaquoi's noggin. But Massaquoi also ducked his head.

Again, it happens.

Harrison was so upset Wednesday, he contemplated retirement.

As a fan of the game, I too am upset.

I'm wondering what I'm going to see on the field this Sunday. Am I going to see defensive players so afraid to make a hit that receivers and running backs are going to run wild?

Or am I going to see the same hits that have happened on football fields for decades result in suspensions the following week that will greatly impact the season?

Either scenario is bad for the game.

Then again, there are a lot of things going on right now that are bad for the game.

Roger Goodell and the owners seem intent on ruining one of the best professional sports on the planet.

The hypocrisy of the NFL never ceases to amaze me.

The league issues this suspension mandate, yet it still wants to add two games to the schedule. It bemoans the dangerous hitting on the field, yet sells pictures and videos of hard hits on its website.

And the most popular and advertised feature on the league's only sanctioned video game, Madden 11, is called the "Hit Stick."

You can't have it both ways, NFL. Either let the players play the game the way it is meant to be played, or just take away the helmets, put flags on players' hips and call it the National Flag-football League.

There. Problem solved.