NFL competition committee announces rule proposals to enhance safety

When the NFL's annual meeting kicks off Sunday in Arizona, the league’s ownership will vote on a number of proposed rule changes. Among them are the following:

• Banning defensive players from leaping over the long snapper during field goal and extra point attempts
• Centralizing replay reviews in the New York command center, giving the league office final say over challenges, “with input from the referee”
• Streamlining the review process with a tablet given to the referee on the field to review challenges rather than make him view disputed plays at a sideline monitor
• Allowing the referee to make the replay announcement during commercial break
• The expansion of a defenseless player protection to include receivers running routes, including the area 5 yards from the line of scrimmage
• The Seattle Seahawks and Buffalo Bills jointly proposed a rule that increases the number of challenges a team can have in a game, as well as to allow coaches to challenge any officiating decision made by a referee
• Make halftime length standard to 13½ minutes
• Limit overtime in preseason and regular season games to 10 minutes
• Make the automatic ejection of a player who has been flagged for two unsportsmanlike penalties permanent after the rule was adopted last season on a one-year basis
• Place the ball at the 25-yard line following touchbacks for one more season, after the rule was adopted last season on a one-year basis

The rule that would ban the leaper on kicking plays produced some of the more exciting moments of recent seasons, including when the Denver Broncos blocked an extra point and returned it for two points to beat the New Orleans Saints 25-23 on Nov. 13.

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Banning leaps on kick attempts is right move for NFL players' safety

“We’re not going to put players in a position in which we think there is an unreasonable risk of injury,” Atlanta Falcons president and NFL competition committee chairman Rich McKay said in a conference call Thursday.

He pointed out that because the NCAA is also in the process of reviewing that rule, it prompted the competition committee to discuss it with the NFL Players Association. (The union had already expressed reservations about the play's safety.)

Also citing concern for player safety, league executives expressed optimism about the one-year trial of touchbacks being placed at the 25-yard line, which was moved up from the 20-yard line.

“The committee was pleased with the results,” NFL head of officiating Dean Blandino said. “Touchbacks were up, the lowest rate of return in NFL history at 39.3% of our kickoffs returned, so we’re proposing that for another year to get another year’s worth of data, and evaluate that after the 2017 season.”

The rule proposal concerning automatic ejections for illegal hits could be one of the more controversial ones, as it has become increasingly difficult for officials to determine helmet-to-helmet and targeting in real time. In order to explain what types of hits the league would want banned, the teams will be shown a video to point out examples.

“We just want to show some plays that we think have no place in our game and therefore should result in suspension and/or ejection if it is seen on the field and can be called,” McKay said. “I think sometimes people get caught up in that players should be warned, and there should be progressive types of enforcement. In this case, these are plays we don’t want in our game.”

Another issue that will be discussed at the meetings are player celebrations. The NFL has been criticized for a perceived crackdown on taunting and celebrations. NFL executive vice president Troy Vincent tweeted that the league was “developing an educational training video for players to show clear examples of appropriate and inappropriate celebrations.”

Green Bay Packers tight end Martellus Bennett responded to that message with his own tweet: “Let the players express their individuality and creativity. Y'all gonna make an educational video on how we should talk next?”

Vincent addressed the video on the conference call.

“Frankly, we want the officials to keep their flags on their waist and we want the players to celebrate, to be spontaneous,” Vincent said. “There are some things that, as we administer the game, there are going to have to be some fine lines and clear examples.”

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Follow Lorenzo Reyes on Twitter @LorenzoGReyes