Competition committee has lots of rules proposals

By Alex Guzman | Tuesday, March 22, 2005 | ( 0 )

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The eight voting members of the committee are making 19 rules proposals to the owners at the annual meetings being held in Maui, Hawaii.

Among the proposals discussed are:
- Adopting defensive pass interference penalties of 15 yards or less instead of assessing spot fouls.
- Penalizing crack-back blocks below the waist outside the tackle box.
- Extending replay challenges to cover fumbles on plays already whistled down by contact.
- Making certain certain dangerous tackles unsportsmanlike conduct. A 15 yard penalty would be leveled anytime a defender grabs a ballcarrier inside the back of the shoulder pads then drags him down while falling over the offensive player's legs.

Another proposal will protect a player who is out of a play from being blindsided, a tactic often used against kickers or punters, or against quarterbacks after an interception.

Defensive pass interference beyond 15 yards that is considered flagrant will make the penalty a spot foul, McKay said. It should prevent intentional tackles of receivers by a defender who is badly beaten on a long pass.

The Kansas City Chiefs have also suggested 5 yard illegal contact penalties not carry an automatic first down against the defense.

Another replay change would be the elimination of the buzzer system which has led to abuses by certain coaches to slow down the run of play. No longer will coaches be able to claim the buzzer went off accidentally because they won't be hooked up. They will only be able to alert officials about a challenge by throwing the red flag onto the field. If a coach throws the flag and the team doesn't have any more challenges or timeouts, it will be a 15 yard penalty.

New England proposed positioning two TV cameras at each goal line to assist coaches on whether to challenge a play, and to aid the referee when examining an instant replay.

The competition committee also suggests penalizing a team 15 yards for calling a second timeout in the same dead ball situation as unsportsmanlike conduct.

Perhaps the most contentious suggestion by the committee concerns the instant replay for down by contact plays. As a result, the committee is proposing a 1 year experiment. Because it can involve a change of possession, the committee felt it was worth a challenge.

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