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- Jul 11, 2005
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We've all wondered what we would do as an all powerful commissioner and every year I lobby in vain for certain rules changes that make common sense to me but never get acted on. So “if I were King of the Jungle” (think the lion in the wizard of Oz):
a. A team shouldn't be rewarded for being penalized. In the Superbowl, at the end of the game, the Giants were penalized for having too many men on the field. However the 5 yds they lost was much less valuable than the 9 seconds that came off the clock. Based on the rules as they currently stand, the Giants could have run out the clock without ever giving the Pats a chance to score, simply by having 12 men on the field. THIS I think the league will do something about.
b.Why can't the ground cause a fumble?. I never understood this. I think its offense's responsibility to hold on to the ball until the whistle blows. It shouldn't matter if the ball comes loose because the ground or a defensive player, its their job to hold on to the ball.....period. It would make the ref's job easier. Fewer controversies, and less time under the hood.
c. The game would go a LOT faster if there was a permanent replay official in the booth. I never understood why it was so important that the ref on the field had to make that call. Accuracy wouldn't be lost and the decisions would take a lot less time. Its a no brainer..
d. Its called a TD. Then why is it at all you have to is cross the plane with the ball and it never actually get it to “touch down” in the endzone for it to be a score. I'd like to make it harder to score, by making it mandatory that either the player's feet has to be in the endzone, or the ball has to actually TOUCH DOWN in the endzone. So hypothetically if a player launches himself over the GL and is caught and sent back without the player or ball touching inside the endzone, then it isn't a score. Yes It will be harder to score, but it would reward good defense and be safer for players who would be less likely to launch themselves airborne and into dangerous situations.
e. I hate when a team gets a 45 yd gift when a players legs get tangled up and PI is called. My personal pet peeve is when a DB is covering a deep pass and is in the trail position and suddenly the receiver stops short and the DB, who is tracking the ball, runs into him, and a PI is called. It especially pisses me off when it happens on a badly thrown pass. Thus the offense gets rewarded for a poorly executed play. That's why the ref should have the option of calling a 15 yd gain for plays like I've described and point of the foul called, when a likely completion was clearly stopped by an interfering DB. Yes it requires the refs to make a “judgment” , and the league would like to eliminate that from the refs. But the refs make a LOT of similar judgments when they call or don't call penalties. You shouldn't reward poor execution with a bail out penalty. Its like the NBA – when a player goes kamikaze into the lane, just looking to create contact and not really having any intention of actually scoring, and gets rewarded with a 2 shot foul.
f. All personal foul penalties should be reviewed by the league after the game, so that in those cases where a guy was responding to a dirty play, and was just unlucky to be caught, would not be fined, but the guy who got away with it, would be. Player will be less likely to throw a sucker punch hoping for a retaliation flag, knowing that his crime would come back to haunt him.
g. The same for those plays where a player flops, or fakes an injury. The penalties for this kind of unsportsmanlike behavior should be severe. You might not catch it during the game, but you can after the fact.
h. Keep the OT rules that we had in the playoffs and use them in the regular season.
I FG's of less than 35 yds will be worth only 2 points. This would encourage more teams to go for it on 4th down, and make the game more exciting for fans. I would also consider making FG's over 50 yds worth 4 points. Thus rewarding a difficult kick and make it more likely that a team would go for the long FG, while at the same time increasing the opportunities for the defensive team to get great field position since they miss more than make it.
j. Eliminate kicking the extra point. You get the ball on the one and you have to use a football play to get the point. It would add excitement to a play that has been largely a formality. The team would make it most of the time, but not the mind numbing 98% success rate that's currently the case. And if you want to make it even more exciting, you can give the scoring team the option of putting the ball on the 7 yd line and go for 2 In one way or another we all pay a high price to be fans, especially those buying tickets. Lets get our monies worth and put some excitement back into the extra point.
k. I want to get rid of the 45 man roster limit on game day. I NEVER understood this rule. If only 45 guys can dress for games, then you should have only 45 men on the roster, and expand the PS's. You paying 53 men to be on your team, then why can't you let them play in the game. I can't believe the cost of sending 8 more guys to an away game is going to break teams' budgets, especially when a lot of teams will have 3 or 4 guys hurt who aren't going to play anyway. This rule makes no sense.
1.
2. And since I'm Ken.I'll stop at K, and will look forward to your comments
I was prolific today, even for me, so I split my post into 3, and hope some of the points won't get lost amid the confusion.
a. A team shouldn't be rewarded for being penalized. In the Superbowl, at the end of the game, the Giants were penalized for having too many men on the field. However the 5 yds they lost was much less valuable than the 9 seconds that came off the clock. Based on the rules as they currently stand, the Giants could have run out the clock without ever giving the Pats a chance to score, simply by having 12 men on the field. THIS I think the league will do something about.
b.Why can't the ground cause a fumble?. I never understood this. I think its offense's responsibility to hold on to the ball until the whistle blows. It shouldn't matter if the ball comes loose because the ground or a defensive player, its their job to hold on to the ball.....period. It would make the ref's job easier. Fewer controversies, and less time under the hood.
c. The game would go a LOT faster if there was a permanent replay official in the booth. I never understood why it was so important that the ref on the field had to make that call. Accuracy wouldn't be lost and the decisions would take a lot less time. Its a no brainer..
d. Its called a TD. Then why is it at all you have to is cross the plane with the ball and it never actually get it to “touch down” in the endzone for it to be a score. I'd like to make it harder to score, by making it mandatory that either the player's feet has to be in the endzone, or the ball has to actually TOUCH DOWN in the endzone. So hypothetically if a player launches himself over the GL and is caught and sent back without the player or ball touching inside the endzone, then it isn't a score. Yes It will be harder to score, but it would reward good defense and be safer for players who would be less likely to launch themselves airborne and into dangerous situations.
e. I hate when a team gets a 45 yd gift when a players legs get tangled up and PI is called. My personal pet peeve is when a DB is covering a deep pass and is in the trail position and suddenly the receiver stops short and the DB, who is tracking the ball, runs into him, and a PI is called. It especially pisses me off when it happens on a badly thrown pass. Thus the offense gets rewarded for a poorly executed play. That's why the ref should have the option of calling a 15 yd gain for plays like I've described and point of the foul called, when a likely completion was clearly stopped by an interfering DB. Yes it requires the refs to make a “judgment” , and the league would like to eliminate that from the refs. But the refs make a LOT of similar judgments when they call or don't call penalties. You shouldn't reward poor execution with a bail out penalty. Its like the NBA – when a player goes kamikaze into the lane, just looking to create contact and not really having any intention of actually scoring, and gets rewarded with a 2 shot foul.
f. All personal foul penalties should be reviewed by the league after the game, so that in those cases where a guy was responding to a dirty play, and was just unlucky to be caught, would not be fined, but the guy who got away with it, would be. Player will be less likely to throw a sucker punch hoping for a retaliation flag, knowing that his crime would come back to haunt him.
g. The same for those plays where a player flops, or fakes an injury. The penalties for this kind of unsportsmanlike behavior should be severe. You might not catch it during the game, but you can after the fact.
h. Keep the OT rules that we had in the playoffs and use them in the regular season.
I FG's of less than 35 yds will be worth only 2 points. This would encourage more teams to go for it on 4th down, and make the game more exciting for fans. I would also consider making FG's over 50 yds worth 4 points. Thus rewarding a difficult kick and make it more likely that a team would go for the long FG, while at the same time increasing the opportunities for the defensive team to get great field position since they miss more than make it.
j. Eliminate kicking the extra point. You get the ball on the one and you have to use a football play to get the point. It would add excitement to a play that has been largely a formality. The team would make it most of the time, but not the mind numbing 98% success rate that's currently the case. And if you want to make it even more exciting, you can give the scoring team the option of putting the ball on the 7 yd line and go for 2 In one way or another we all pay a high price to be fans, especially those buying tickets. Lets get our monies worth and put some excitement back into the extra point.
k. I want to get rid of the 45 man roster limit on game day. I NEVER understood this rule. If only 45 guys can dress for games, then you should have only 45 men on the roster, and expand the PS's. You paying 53 men to be on your team, then why can't you let them play in the game. I can't believe the cost of sending 8 more guys to an away game is going to break teams' budgets, especially when a lot of teams will have 3 or 4 guys hurt who aren't going to play anyway. This rule makes no sense.
1.
2. And since I'm Ken.I'll stop at K, and will look forward to your comments
I was prolific today, even for me, so I split my post into 3, and hope some of the points won't get lost amid the confusion.