Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

I was watching a college game on tv yesterday - Miami vs Army - entertaining game.
Miami scored a tying touchdown with just a few seconds left in the game
and the receiver was so excited he spiked the ball.

He was then called for unsportsmanlike conduct for doing so and the resulting 15 yard penalty
almost cost them a chance to tie the game with a longer extra point than normal.

This rule makes no sense as no one was hurt by his actions and it was a result of
his enthusiasm.

What other silly rules are there in pro football
besides requiring teams to line up for an extra point
after a game-winning touchdown yet not requiring it after a
game-winning overtime touchdown.

And regular-season overtime itself.

I'm baffled as to why defensive pass interference is still a spot foul in the NFL instead of 15 yards. A judgment call should not decide the outcome of a game, and DPI does that far too often.

One silly rule that I'm glad they got rid of is the case of a receiver catching the ball in the air close to being out of bounds and his defender pushing him so that he lands out of bounds.... If the official determined that he WOULD HAVE landed in bounds without the push, it was ruled a catch. That was way too much of a judgement call for the officials. The defender should be rewarded for making a good play and getting the receiver to land out of bounds.

I don't know if it's a rule, but one thing I've always disliked is the kicking ball for field goals and extra points. To me, it's like using a different type of basketball for free throws, or a different type of baseball is used when pitching to the pitcher.

Citizen wrote:I'm baffled as to why defensive pass interference is still a spot foul in the NFL instead of 15 yards. A judgment call should not decide the outcome of a game, and DPI does that far too often.

I don't want to see players rewarded for making a penalty. The receiver has two steps on me, I'll just tackle him and it's only 15 yards instead of a TD.

Citizen wrote:I'm baffled as to why defensive pass interference is still a spot foul in the NFL instead of 15 yards. A judgment call should not decide the outcome of a game, and DPI does that far too often.

If it was only a 15 yard penalty in the nfl every defensive back in the league would take advantage of it. In college it works because the talent differential between teams is still significant. However in the nfl where there is a very small differential in talent from team to team the rule wouldn't work and no one would ever be able to complete a long pass anylonger because the db would simply shove the wr as soon as they thought they were about to get beat.

Have they just started the new touchback rule this season. You know, kickoff lands in the end zone and the ball is automatically dead.

lastcat3 wrote:

Citizen wrote:I'm baffled as to why defensive pass interference is still a spot foul in the NFL instead of 15 yards. A judgment call should not decide the outcome of a game, and DPI does that far too often.

If it was only a 15 yard penalty in the nfl every defensive back in the league would take advantage of it. In college it works because the talent differential between teams is still significant. However in the nfl where there is a very small differential in talent from team to team the rule wouldn't work and no one would ever be able to complete a long pass anylonger because the db would simply shove the wr as soon as they thought they were about to get beat.

Exactly. Why give up a 20-yard completion when you're only penalized 15 yards for interference. DBs would be taught to interfere.

rhickok1109 wrote:

lastcat3 wrote:

Citizen wrote:I'm baffled as to why defensive pass interference is still a spot foul in the NFL instead of 15 yards. A judgment call should not decide the outcome of a game, and DPI does that far too often.

If it was only a 15 yard penalty in the nfl every defensive back in the league would take advantage of it. In college it works because the talent differential between teams is still significant. However in the nfl where there is a very small differential in talent from team to team the rule wouldn't work and no one would ever be able to complete a long pass anylonger because the db would simply shove the wr as soon as they thought they were about to get beat.

Exactly. Why give up a 20-yard completion when you're only penalized 15 yards for interference. DBs would be taught to interfere.

Y'know, I understand that logic and agree that in the professional world that might be the outcome (which is a damn shame). But in the sandlot, where penalties were simply a "do-over" (so not even 15 yards) I can't recall a single instance (in 20 years) of anyone intentionally interfering in the manner described above (i.e. to prevent a completion or TD because you were beat).

Maybe (and obviously) we didn't have as much at stake but I'd like to think it's a little thing called "sportsmanship."
We didn't do it because it was cheating (what a concept) and, frankly, if your opponent beat you that badly he deserved the catch. Besides, you'd get the opportunity to do the same to him when your team got the ball.

I guess it's apples and oranges but perhaps one solution would be to make the penalty for P.I. 15 yards and, if the penalty was intentional tack on another 15 for unsportsmanlike conduct (or make it a spot foul)... but there again we're back to a judgement call...

The 15 yard penalty has been in place in college ball for a while. How does it work there?

John Grasso wrote:What other silly rules are there in pro football
besides requiring teams to line up for an extra point
after a game-winning touchdown yet not requiring it after a
game-winning overtime touchdown.

They changed that. Stefon Diggs had the last go-ahead touchdown at :00 that was followed by a conversion attempt