New Football League Adopts Rules NFL Should Consider: The United Football League, an upstart fall pro league begun by some former NFL execs and coaches with teams in six cities, has adopted rules that some NFL fans have wanted for years. Among them: the elimination of the Tuck Rule, the allowance of group end zone and sideline celebrations, and overtimes in which both teams get at least one possession.
How about two rules from Canada? 1. Let receivers move forward before the ball is snapped, which could lead to more scoring. 2. Cut down the timeouts; stop the clock after each play, then restart when the ball is set and ready to play. There's nothing worse than the final 2 minutes of a game lasting 15, 20 minutes because of too many timeouts.
posted by jjzucal at 07:13 PM on July 08, 2009
Allow two eligible receivers in motion at the same time.
Elliminate the rule requiring X men on the line of scrimmage. I don't even know what is required (7 I think), but I get ticked off every time it is called. Require the blockers to be on the line and a minimum of two receivers to be outside the tackles (one on each side) but not necessarily on the line. Within 5 yards of the line of scrimmage should be fine.
posted by graymatters at 08:06 PM on July 08, 2009
I've been opposed to the NFL's overtime system for a long time. I have seen numerous instances where one team has won the coin toss and scored on their first possession. The other team doesn't have a chance to even the score.
I'd love to see something like the NCAA's system where both teams get an equal chance to score. Not only would it be fairer, it would be much more exciting.
posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 12:15 AM on July 09, 2009
The way to fix overtime in the NFL, is to just consider it the 5th quarter. The team that has the ball continues just like they do between the 1st and 2nd quarter. This would stop the running out of the clock to get to overtime, and eliminate the coin flip bias.
posted by Knuckles at 12:12 PM on July 09, 2009
The problem with another quarter if the game is tied at the end of regulation is injuries would pile up, the game could end up in a 5 hour game. Could you imagine on the east coast staying up that late on monday night into tuesday morning?
posted by sgtcookzane at 06:26 PM on July 09, 2009
NFL bans players from "tweeting" during games.....
posted by rumple at 12:51 AM on July 10, 2009
I think the intentional grounding rule, in my opinion is a terrible rule to throw away. Seems to me that will compromise the integrity of football. Anytime that you are about to get hit, just throw it at the defender's feet. It would be a downer for a defender to beat the offensive line and have the QB throw it out of bounds. Kind of like goal tending in basketball, just have Shaq or whoever else just stand under the rim and block incoming shots. Other than that rule I like most of them. Especially the OT rule. The replay rule sounds just like NCAA rules. Even though the replay officials in college football suck!!
posted by sgtcookzane at 06:20 PM on July 08, 2009