At the annual NFL meetings that are being held in Palm Beach, Fla. this week, the NFL competition committee will propose a series of playing rule changes for the 2012 season to the NFL’s ownership group.
After the conclusion of the 2011 season, the competition committee, which is chaired by Atlanta Falcons President and CEO Rich McKay, took feedback from fans, all 32 NFL clubs, officials, media, medical consultants and the NFLPA and came up with the following rule proposals, as explained by McKay:
Playing Rule Proposal No. 1 is submitted by Buffalo. It is a change to instant replay in which Buffalo proposes that the replay official in the booth make all decisions in the booth as opposed to the referee. That is the only change in the rule they proposed. That would move the decisions from the referee to upstairs.
Playing Rule Proposal No. 2 is submitted by Pittsburgh. It is a proposal in which they want to modify the horse collar tackle rule. The rule now provides an exception to horse collar tackles to the quarterback inside the pocket. They proposed that the exception be taken out. In other words, if a quarterback inside the pocket is tackled by a horse collar tackle, it would be a 15-yard penalty. It currently is not.
Playing Rule Proposal No. 3 is also submitted by Pittsburgh. It is a proposal in which they ask that the postseason overtime rule be used in the regular season also. It would be a change in what we call the ‘Opportunity to Possess Rule’ that now occurs in our postseason. They would propose that it would also be used in the regular season.
Playing Rule Proposal No. 4 is a cleanup rule about the kicking of the football. If you kick a football and it happens by the offensive team before possession changes, then it is a loss of a scrimmage down. It is really because there are some instances in which the kicking team gains an advantage or isn’t penalized substantially on a muffed kick by kicking the ball. We wanted to marry it up with the college rule and make it also a loss of down – a simple cleanup rule.
Playing Rule Proposal No. 5 is an adoption, if you will or a proposal to adopt the college rule on too many men on the field. It would be a dead-ball foul now as it is in college. If you line up on offense for more than three seconds or if on defense you line up and the snap is imminent, then the official will shut the play down and it will be a dead-ball foul, five yards and you go from there. You would still have the same situation if a player is trying to run off the field or something like that. In that case, it would be a live-ball foul and a five-yard penalty. It deals a little bit with, and is a little bit of a reaction, obviously, to the Super Bowl (XLVI) play.
Playing Rule Proposal No. 6 is an expansion of our defenseless player rules. All we are doing there is we have always given crackback protection to the defensive player from the low block from the person who is lined up outside and blocks inside and goes low. You guys have heard it forever. We have said that if he has crackback protection, the (offensive player) cannot go low. We propose that the protection be expanded to defenseless player protection, which means you cannot go low but you also cannot hit him in the head nor lead with the head against that player. We just think that player is in a very vulnerable position inside, and we are trying to give that defensive player a little more protection.
Playing Rule Proposal No. 7 is our last Playing Rule Proposal. It is an instant replay proposal submitted by the Competition Committee. Last year, we proposed that you would be able to review scoring plays. This year we would expand that and try to propose that you would be able to review scoring plays and additionally review what we will call ‘traditional turnovers.’ When I say review, I mean that a review would be instigated by the replay official upstairs. As you know, last year we changed that. We took scoring plays from the coaches and put it upstairs as an automatic review for him (the replay official) to confirm. If he (the replay official) felt it needed to be reviewed by the referee, then he stopped the game. We would use that same procedure for turnovers – fumbles, interceptions and the like. That would be an expansion of the replay assistant’s capabilities and take it out of the hands of the coaches, without affecting in any way the coach’s ability to still have three challenges if he gets the first two right or two challenges if he doesn’t.
In addition to the seven rule proposals, the competition committee also recommended changes to the league’s bylaws which include adjusting the trade deadline, training camp roster sizes and an injured reserve list exception.
Bylaw Proposal No. 1 is a cleanup rule with respect to the teams that have games on Thanksgiving and Christmas in giving them the ability to use the waiver procedure like other night games.
Bylaw Proposal No. 2, we proposed that the trade deadline be moved from after the sixth week of the regular season to after the eighth week of the regular season. It would be a two-week move in the trade deadline.
Bylaw Proposal No. 3 is we propose a 90-player training camp offseason limit. In that limit, we would also count the unsigned draft picks, which we haven’t in years past; those players have been exempt. It would be an increase from what has traditionally been 80 players, although last year we obviously made the exception given the unique year. We propose 90 this year. In that, we propose two cuts – one cut coming after (preseason) Week 3, you would go from 90 to 80; and then you would go to 53 in the last cut.
Bylaw Proposal No. 4 is a contingent proposal in case we don’t end up with a 90-man roster and we end up with an 80-man roster. It is a way to cut down the roster if that were to happen. Bylaw Proposal No. 4 is a contingency proposal, if you will.
Bylaw Proposal No. 5 is a proposal in which we seek to move the final cut-down date to Friday night as opposed to Saturday where it has been. It is in recognition of the Kickoff Game being on Wednesday night and trying to give those two teams the opportunity to have a practice on Saturday.
Bylaw Proposal No. 6, I’m going to call it an ‘injured reserve exception for major injury to a designated player.’ Traditionally, in our system, injured reserve players have been out for the year. In this case, if that player was on the roster all the way through the first regular-season weekend, then you could put that player on injured reserve, designate that player for return and the player could begin to practice six weeks after he has gone on that list and play in games eight weeks after he has gone on that list. You could put him on later in the season, but you could take the player, for instance, who was hurt in the preseason, carry him through the first week of the regular season, put him on this list and bring him back during the season.
Bylaw Proposal No. 7 is an exception or an addition to the inactive list which would give each team the right by the Friday of each week to designate up to one player who could be on the inactive list, and if they were diagnosed with a concussion, they could go on that inactive list; you could then add another player to your roster, they would stay on that inactive list until they take them off. You must take them off or put them on prior to Friday at 4:00 PM. At no time could you have more than one on that inactive list.
Last year’s major rule change proposed by the committee and ultimately passed by the league was moving kickoffs up by 5 yards to help cut back on injuries. McKay said that concussions on kickoffs were reduced by 40 percent while only affecting the average drive start by roughly 1.5 yards.
-Stuart Zaas
Tags: Owners Meetings, Rule Changes
No story, Turtle? Okay then. Nite all.
sharing pills is what made me the man I am today.. but thanks for the offer
http://www.nfl.com/draft/story/09000d5d827eae5c/article/who-is-the-greatest-fourthround-pick-of-alltime
Some nice names but no Doom?? I wonder why.
she said… and I quote to the best of meager ability…
“where’s your saviour now Turtle… my team drafted JaMarcus Russell so I know about stupid moves but getting rid of Tim Tebow and bringing in a broken down Peyton… Nicely Done… wanna cookie with your pancake… etc, etc, etc,…”
It went on for about 10 minutes and all I had was… ‘Well, Peyton use to be good… Look out IF he’s back to his old self…’ SPLUH
Can we PLEASE beat the Raiders in Denver this season… PLEASE
Hello Ms Tide!
Sleep well… can you hear the ocean?
BT,Tebow for Manning is nowhere near the disaster called Jamarcus Russell.Even if Manning gets hurt in practice and never plays one down for us,it still wouldn’t come close to Russell,LOL.
The Raiders will forever be bottom Dwellers….FTR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ab,when I asked you how Mannings neck was,it was meant as a joke,you turned nasty,and called Manning my GOD!
turtle, technically (and not to argue )we made a good move about trading tebow for manning. about 99 percent of the football wolrd knows it too. it’s cause u dont agree with it is what makes it bad. and that raider fan is definetly more scared of manning then tebow. just my opinion.
Hey socal,how goes it bro?
Delusional Raiders FANS!!!
Raiders fan what you have just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.
Demons don’t have souls,lol.
did anyone hear about us interested in okoye again. according to the mile high report.
I am rejoicing in the fact that we are interested in Okoye.
sup BFE. u guys getting into a little heated discussion.
lax nice one. Billy Madison. love adam sandler.
As am I lol
Yeah and he’s only 24!
24 and played for a terrible Texans D
Thanks Cal every now and then I just need to say that lie when someone talks about Tebow glowingly haha I should have though of it earlier
It sucked… Peyton better have 300+ and 3 Touchdowns… I’ll take my comp down there and replay the whole game… with surround sound…
Nah…..I just think the Manning deal was FANTASTIC and some people either don’t like it or think we spent too much on him.
Just opinions tho!
texas got rid of a lot of talent on that team. they will take a hit next season.
BT You were supposed to cut her off and say wait wait wait… YOUR A RAIDERS FAN LMAO HAHAHAHA!!!
But they get Shaub back tho.
@Turtle: WOW! that was funny! did she really grill you that bad? and that was your only comeback? sorry bro it just killed me…funny.. I hope Peyton has a picknick with those raiders…..
atleast you got your free breakfast.
@socal: wait!! were we interested in Okoye?? I missed that one.
I’m pumped for this season! Mad passing attack run by Pfunk Manning, running and defensive minded coaches in fox and del rio. Sounds like the recipe for a good run!
i beleive it was worth it this year. and doesnt he have to take a physical for the next couple of years. the only guaranteed money was this year. from what i understood we made a great deal to protect us. its funny i use to hate manning since those times when he knocked us out of the playoffs back to back. and 2 years ago i started liking him. giving him credit for one of the best ever. and telling my son that who likes him. and now he is a Bronco. love it.
jsizzla…my wife calls him P-dog!!!!!!
She is actually a Broncos fan now,2nd to her beloved 49ers…..yuck!
All because we have P-dog,lol.
Yea, raiders fans talking about bad front office moves. That’s a joke in itself. Those guys are idiots..
PM,best QB ever…period!
No way am I going to say anything regarding PM until he shows it in a game… against them… I could never show my face again if I beat that drum then he isn’t what I said…
I was in such a horrible place… never before had I not been able to simply say Phuck the Raiders… She had every right to say what she said, and I will never let her forget it if she’s wrong… so for our sake I’m doubling my HOPE that Peyton does his thing next year (and I don’t mean cash a paycheck for watching)…
broncos20, yea got the update on my phone. i have this app allows me to see any bronco news from denver post, mile high report, nfl.com, predominantly orange and so on. also gives me big NFL new. love it.
They hired Allen from us,a DC in his 1st year,as their HC,I think it was only to hurt us,even if he pans out or not.We couldn’t have written it better,JDR is a GREAT DC!!!!!!!!!!!better than Allen!he is PROVEN!
awesome socal!
my location makes it remotely impossible to get an app like that.
First off, I don’t know if we ever beat Manning, it would have had to been a while ago. Second, after I found out how many teams made a push for Manning that the media never talked about made me feel better that we got him. Lastly, just the fact that Pfunk chose Denver is a compliment in itself, I mean this dude knows a lot about football and he wants to win and he came here first and chose us. That’s huge in my book!
its ok turtle. i also love the fact p dog was working out with a couple of new team mates. shows how serious he is.
She has signed 10 dollar bills on her wall from all the bets she wins when the Raiders beat the Broncos… Last year when we went into their house and beat ass I ate there every day for a week and made her take my money while I Tebow’d… She’s a fun lady…
Manning is very smart,the smartest to ever play,that’s what makes him so good,he’ll bring HIS Offense in and show McCoy how HE can run it!!!
bfe, i totally agree with u. they only took him to hurt us. and all that did was bring in jdr. big mistake.
Del Rio was a LB when he played. Imagine what he can do with Von..
Hey LAX, thanks for that article about Plummer. I always liked the guy and it’s good to see some good press on him. The SI article that was written was actually really neat too, really puts Jake in perspective for people.
JDR,is a master when it comes to preparing a Defense to play,he will easily make our Defense better instantly with scheming and player positioning!
No matter who we have at DC theres only so much we can do without DTs.
If we draft heavy D,like I think we will,we should have a top 10 Defense next year,and with Manning at QB,we won’t have to play catchup all the time,that means VonDoom can pin their ears back boys!!!!!!!!!!!!
we are working at it alaska. go to have faith. our d will be top 5 next season.
Hopefully we get Okoye,and draft Cox at #25.I hope Warren comes back healthy,with those 3 plus Thomas rotating,I would be happy!
i believe they will draft all d and a rb. thats all we need.
BFE I agree with that. Cox or Brockers are the only DTs id take in round 1 but i would prefer Hightower. IMO Worthy and Still are over-hyped. I posted a list of DTs in later rounds i like. if we get a DT at 25 then i would love to see a LB (McClellin or Kendricks) Winn is a DT i would love to have at 57. Hes listed as a DE but hes built and has DT size
ab,I agree if we don’t take Cox,we take Hightower,but the Steelers done said they’d take Hightower at #24,remember they took Pouncey 1 pick before we did,after they said they would and McD took a chance,and blew it,so we ended up with Walton(an average Center) and they got a Pro Bowler in Pouncey!
I want to bring this up. I am the biggest skeptic on Mike Shannahan. He had a brilliant football mind but his ego stood in the way of our franchise directly following John Elways retirement. He was given far too long as our coach and some of his decisions were as questionable as McDaniels short tenure!