Dreadlocks and long hair are and have been open game. Best example I can remember was Polamalu
Hoodies would have been treated the same way, it would have been legal to grab and tackle by.
The big reason this needed to be addressed is because of the change to the Horsecollar tackle rule for 2016. Which adds the name plate area of the jersey. last year and before if the defender grabbed the jersey without getting inside the collar area it wasn't a horsecollar. It would have resulted in cases where what would have been a horse collar tackle ended up being a hoodie tackle and also cases where what would have been legal tackles be coming hoodie tackles. The rules would have to either make them all legal or all illegal, otherwise officials would have to try and determine intent. This way, there is no question.
Originally Posted by: PackFanWithTwins