Do N.F.L. Rule Changes For 2011 Hurt Or Help The Game?
The National Football League made a few rule changes for the 2011 season. Some people think some of the changes may have hurt the way the game is played. Coaches may not even realize just how these changes can affect their teams as we witnessed when The Cleveland Browns and the Philadelphia Eagles played 9 days ago. The Browns quarterback completed a pass for a touchdown and the Eagles Andy Reid Head Coach Executive VP/Football Operations through a red challenge flag either forgetting each scoring play will automatically be reviewed in the both or not realizing he was going to get an unsportsmanlike conduct 15 yard penalty for throwing the red flag.
Had this been a regular season game a penalty like that could have really cost Andy Reid's Eagles. In the same game we saw the referrer's throw a roughing the passer flag after the Browns linebacker D'Qwell Jackson made a great hit on Eagles Quarterback Michael Vick. On the reply after reply, it looked like a great clean hit. The way the N.F.L. owners are changing rules to protect their star players are hurting the game in some people's opinions. After all this is N.F.L. football, people expect to see some big hits. There is a difference between trying to intentionally trying to hurt someone and a good clean hit. The Referee's have to let these guys play football.
Another area of the rule changes that have people up in arms is the kickoff. People liked seeing the excitement of a kickoff returned for a touchdown. The Owners once again changed a rule to try and limit the amount of injuries that happened to players during kick returns. You have to ask at what cost? The players and coaches are going to have to get use to these new rules. The following is a list of these changes..
Changes were made regarding kickoffs to limit injuries. First, kickoffs will be moved from the 30 back up to the 35-yard line, repealing a 1994 rule change. In addition, players on the kickoff coverage team can not line up more than 5 yards behind the kickoff line, minimizing running starts and thus reducing the speed of collisions. Other changes were also proposed, but a number of players and coaches expressed concern they would actually significantly reduce, if not eliminate, the number of kickoff returns. Proposals that would have brought touchbacks out to the 25 instead of the 20, and eliminated all wedge blocks were not adopted. Despite this rule, the Bears kicked off from the 30-yard line twice in their preseason game against the Bills until the league forced them to stop.
All replay reviews of scoring plays during the entire game can now be initiated by the replay booth official. Coaches will no longer have to use one of their challenges if a scoring play occurs outside of the two-minute warning
Nicknamed the "Boise State Rule", all playing fields must remain green, and not be in another color like the blue "Smurf Turf" at Boise State's Bronco, unless approval is granted by the league. This was passed in response to a few sponsors who requested to change the colors in a few stadiums.
The following rule changes were adopted at the NFL Owners' Meeting on May 24, 2011:
Hits to the head of a passer-by an opponent's hands, arms or other parts of the body will not be fouls unless they are forcible blows, modifying the existing rule that any contact to a passer's head, regardless of the reason, is penalized as a personal foul (15 yards).
Players will be prohibited from "launching" (leaving both feet prior to contact to spring forward and upward into an opponent or using any part of the helmet to initiate forcible contact against any part of the opponent's body) to level a defenseless player, as well as "forcibly hitting the neck or head area with the helmet, facemask, forearm or shoulder regardless of whether the defensive player also uses his arms to tackle the defenseless player by encircling or grasping him.", and lowering the head and make forcible contact with the top/crown or forehead/"hairline" parts of the helmet against any part of the defenseless player's body. Offenders will be penalized 15 yards for unnecessary roughness and ejected from the game if the contact is deemed flagrant.
A "defenseless player" is defined as a:
Player in the act of or just after throwing a pass.
Receiver attempting to catch a pass or one who has not completed a catch and hasn't had time to protect himself or hasn't clearly become a runner. If the receiver/runner is capable of avoiding or warding off the impending contact of an opponent, he is no longer a defenseless player.
Runner whose forward progress has been stopped and is already in the grasp of a tackler.
Kickoff or punt returner attempting to field a kick in the air.
Player on the ground at the end of a play.
Kicker/punter during the kick or return.
Quarterback any time after a change of possession (i.e. turnover).
Player who receives a €blindside€ block when the blocker is moving toward his own end-line and approaches the opponent from behind or the side.
The N.F.L. is going to have game day testing for performance enhancing drugs but not recreational drugs this season. So I guess it would be alright if the players all showed up before the game high on pot or juiced up on cocaine as long as they didn't take performance enhancing drugs......
Some of these rule changes are border line ludicrous in my opinion. The game has been played for nearly 100 years. Now you are going to try and protect the so called franchise players, the guys making 100 million dollar contracts. Come on this is getting to the point of not letting them play....
Had this been a regular season game a penalty like that could have really cost Andy Reid's Eagles. In the same game we saw the referrer's throw a roughing the passer flag after the Browns linebacker D'Qwell Jackson made a great hit on Eagles Quarterback Michael Vick. On the reply after reply, it looked like a great clean hit. The way the N.F.L. owners are changing rules to protect their star players are hurting the game in some people's opinions. After all this is N.F.L. football, people expect to see some big hits. There is a difference between trying to intentionally trying to hurt someone and a good clean hit. The Referee's have to let these guys play football.
Another area of the rule changes that have people up in arms is the kickoff. People liked seeing the excitement of a kickoff returned for a touchdown. The Owners once again changed a rule to try and limit the amount of injuries that happened to players during kick returns. You have to ask at what cost? The players and coaches are going to have to get use to these new rules. The following is a list of these changes..
Changes were made regarding kickoffs to limit injuries. First, kickoffs will be moved from the 30 back up to the 35-yard line, repealing a 1994 rule change. In addition, players on the kickoff coverage team can not line up more than 5 yards behind the kickoff line, minimizing running starts and thus reducing the speed of collisions. Other changes were also proposed, but a number of players and coaches expressed concern they would actually significantly reduce, if not eliminate, the number of kickoff returns. Proposals that would have brought touchbacks out to the 25 instead of the 20, and eliminated all wedge blocks were not adopted. Despite this rule, the Bears kicked off from the 30-yard line twice in their preseason game against the Bills until the league forced them to stop.
All replay reviews of scoring plays during the entire game can now be initiated by the replay booth official. Coaches will no longer have to use one of their challenges if a scoring play occurs outside of the two-minute warning
Nicknamed the "Boise State Rule", all playing fields must remain green, and not be in another color like the blue "Smurf Turf" at Boise State's Bronco, unless approval is granted by the league. This was passed in response to a few sponsors who requested to change the colors in a few stadiums.
The following rule changes were adopted at the NFL Owners' Meeting on May 24, 2011:
Hits to the head of a passer-by an opponent's hands, arms or other parts of the body will not be fouls unless they are forcible blows, modifying the existing rule that any contact to a passer's head, regardless of the reason, is penalized as a personal foul (15 yards).
Players will be prohibited from "launching" (leaving both feet prior to contact to spring forward and upward into an opponent or using any part of the helmet to initiate forcible contact against any part of the opponent's body) to level a defenseless player, as well as "forcibly hitting the neck or head area with the helmet, facemask, forearm or shoulder regardless of whether the defensive player also uses his arms to tackle the defenseless player by encircling or grasping him.", and lowering the head and make forcible contact with the top/crown or forehead/"hairline" parts of the helmet against any part of the defenseless player's body. Offenders will be penalized 15 yards for unnecessary roughness and ejected from the game if the contact is deemed flagrant.
A "defenseless player" is defined as a:
Player in the act of or just after throwing a pass.
Receiver attempting to catch a pass or one who has not completed a catch and hasn't had time to protect himself or hasn't clearly become a runner. If the receiver/runner is capable of avoiding or warding off the impending contact of an opponent, he is no longer a defenseless player.
Runner whose forward progress has been stopped and is already in the grasp of a tackler.
Kickoff or punt returner attempting to field a kick in the air.
Player on the ground at the end of a play.
Kicker/punter during the kick or return.
Quarterback any time after a change of possession (i.e. turnover).
Player who receives a €blindside€ block when the blocker is moving toward his own end-line and approaches the opponent from behind or the side.
The N.F.L. is going to have game day testing for performance enhancing drugs but not recreational drugs this season. So I guess it would be alright if the players all showed up before the game high on pot or juiced up on cocaine as long as they didn't take performance enhancing drugs......
Some of these rule changes are border line ludicrous in my opinion. The game has been played for nearly 100 years. Now you are going to try and protect the so called franchise players, the guys making 100 million dollar contracts. Come on this is getting to the point of not letting them play....