Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

The following seven rules changes have been proposed by NFL clubs.

Playing Rule Proposals
1. By Philadelphia; to amend Rule 12, Section 2, Article 7, to modify the
blindside block rule to prevent unnecessary fouls.

2. By Philadelphia; to amend Rule 15, Section 2, to make permanent the
expansion of automatic replay reviews to include scoring plays and
turnovers negated by a foul, and any successful or unsuccessful Try attempt.

3. By Philadelphia; to amend Rule 6, Section 1, Article 1, to provide an
alternative to the onside kick that would allow a team who is trailing in the
game an opportunity to maintain possession of the ball after scoring.

4. By Philadelphia; to amend Rule16, Section 1, to restore preseason and
regular season overtime to fifteen minutes and to implement rules to
minimize the impact of the overtime coin toss.

5. By Miami; to amend Rule 4, Section 3, Article 2, to provide the option to
the defense for the game clock to start on the Referee’s signal if the defense
declines an offensive penalty that occurs late in either half.

6. By Baltimore and Los Angeles Chargers; to amend Rule 19, Section 2, to
add a “booth umpire” as an eighth game official to the officiating crew.

7. By Baltimore and Los Angeles Chargers; to amend Rule 19, Section 2, to
add a Senior Technology Advisor to the Referee to assist the officiating
crew

Full details can be found in this location.

https://nflcommunications.com/Documents ... posals.pdf

Proposal 3 might be considered the biggest proposed change.

Effect: Permits a team to maintain possession of the ball after a score by substituting one
offensive play (4th and 15 from the kicking team’s 25-yard line) for an onside
kickoff attempt.

Reason: Provides excitement and competition late in the game.

I can see proposal 3 passing. It's not a bad proposal. And a reasonable way to earn a possession. Though I feel if you complete the 4th and 15...even if you hit a 50 yard passing play...you should go back and start 1st and 10 on your 20 or 25.

Though I'd rather just keep the onside kick and have like it used to be.

I understand I'm not the one being sued, but the safety nannies really ruin everything. I like the kickoff as it was. I liked returns. I liked the huge hits and collisions.

sheajets wrote:I can see proposal 3 passing. It's not a bad proposal. And a reasonable way to earn a possession. Though I feel if you complete the 4th and 15...even if you hit a 50 yard passing play...you should go back and start 1st and 10 on your 20 or 25.

Though I'd rather just keep the onside kick and have like it used to be.

I understand I'm not the one being sued, but the safety nannies really ruin everything. I like the kickoff as it was. I liked returns. I liked the huge hits and collisions.

If you look at the older games, as most if not all of us here do, I would have to say that overall technique was less refined. Passers less accurate, certainly kickers less accurate, receivers less adept at getting two feet in bounds. Doesn't mean that the games were any less enjoyable, but there were that many fewer years to refine technique, less money at stake.

All of that applies to defensive and special teams technique as well. Look at an onside kick from years gone by, someone falls on the ball or they muff it or miss it and the offense falls on the ball. It wasn't what it had become with players becoming human battering rams. Part of the problem with that play is everyone knows the objective and it's just a collision waiting to happen. The more practiced and rehearsed the collision, the more potential for injury.

The 1970s are so beloved by some here, me not so much. Even though I grew up with that. And the NFL made several attempts and eventually succeeded in getting passing offense back into the game, a game it had been a part of for 20-25 years prior to the 1970s and would be again after. Maybe some prefer that the NFL never enacted the "Isaac Curtis rule" and the Dolphins be allowed to continue to simply tackle troublesome receivers. Society and sport is never stable, it is opposing forces, and the NFL needed to alter the game back then before the Daryl Stingleys started piling up.

Jay Z wrote:

sheajets wrote:I can see proposal 3 passing. It's not a bad proposal. And a reasonable way to earn a possession. Though I feel if you complete the 4th and 15...even if you hit a 50 yard passing play...you should go back and start 1st and 10 on your 20 or 25.

Though I'd rather just keep the onside kick and have like it used to be.

I understand I'm not the one being sued, but the safety nannies really ruin everything. I like the kickoff as it was. I liked returns. I liked the huge hits and collisions.

If you look at the older games, as most if not all of us here do, I would have to say that overall technique was less refined. Passers less accurate, certainly kickers less accurate, receivers less adept at getting two feet in bounds. Doesn't mean that the games were any less enjoyable, but there were that many fewer years to refine technique, less money at stake.

All of that applies to defensive and special teams technique as well. Look at an onside kick from years gone by, someone falls on the ball or they muff it or miss it and the offense falls on the ball. It wasn't what it had become with players becoming human battering rams. Part of the problem with that play is everyone knows the objective and it's just a collision waiting to happen. The more practiced and rehearsed the collision, the more potential for injury.

The 1970s are so beloved by some here, me not so much. Even though I grew up with that. And the NFL made several attempts and eventually succeeded in getting passing offense back into the game, a game it had been a part of for 20-25 years prior to the 1970s and would be again after. Maybe some prefer that the NFL never enacted the "Isaac Curtis rule" and the Dolphins be allowed to continue to simply tackle troublesome receivers. Society and sport is never stable, it is opposing forces, and the NFL needed to alter the game back then before the Daryl Stingleys started piling up.

One of the theories I have is the extreme promotion of the passing game along with smaller equipment and the increased speed of the game is what led to these violent collisions in the secondary. Put the players in bigger, heavier pads again, let some more obstruction (within reason) occur in the secondary. More grabbing and handfighting. Not 70's level but let defenders defend and slow things down a bit. You'll end up with a more balanced game and less massive collisions and injuries