NFL Rule Changes on the Horizon

Believe it or not, there were some NFL happenings this week that did not involve the labor dispute, as the NFL head honchos agreed to some amendments in their annual roundup of rule changes.

Sure, there were plenty of competitive changes which we'll get to, but I'm sure you, like me, care most about the new rule stating that the NFL Commissioner must approve any changes to the main turf color a team wants to adopt, and it has it be a shade of green. I call it the "None of that Boise State/Eastern Washington shit here" rule.

According to Falcons owner Arthur Blank, the concern was that sponsors could come in and suggest a field in their corporate color in return for sponsorship cash. What a load of crap. First, this isn't the CFL, where the fields are covered in sponsor ads. Here in the NFL, we keep the fields and the uniforms completely clear of advertisements. Pristine.

Indeed, the NFL honors its corporate overlords by stuffing in commercial breaks during replay challenges so you, the viewer, can see fewer crucial replays. And having commercial breaks before and after extra point attempts. And before and after kickoffs. And during all injury breaks. And during all timeouts. Yes, the NFL will not sully your proud eyesight with untoward colors and corporate logos ... they will just waste your time. That's the way God intended.

When I was a little kid, the family television was black and white. Yet, I had convinced myself that I could discern in the various shades of gray the actual colors that lay underneath. I had my mom convinced, too.

Of course, I didn't actually have that ability. But I did believe the field turf at Texas Stadium, where the Cowboys played, was silver. Silver and awesome. Imagine my disappointment when I found out the truth.

So do you see, NFL? You are ruining the dreams of little boys everywhere with black and white TVs in 2011.

In all seriousness, I truly am against this rule. What's wrong with a little color? I write about logos a lot here, and respect tradition and understatement, but not at the expense of creativity. Color is good, it's why we give babies colorful mobiles and toys to play with, it excites and pleases the brain. Imagine a silver Cowboys field, a gold Chargers field, or a black Raiders field. Too bad it will never be, at least not anytime soon. However, I would like to point out to NFL owners that agree with me that this is a shade of green.

The NFL is also moving kickoffs back to the the 35 yard line from the 30, going back to the way it was before 1994. Additionally, kicking team players must line up within 5 yards of the 35. They can't, for example, line up at the 20 so that they are going full speed with they launch themselves at the return man.

This will result in more touchbacks, more instances of Sebastian Janikowski launching kickoffs through the uprights, and less returns.

I'm not thrilled with the idea of less returns, but these rules were enacted to reduce concussions and serious injuries (an inordinate number of which occur on kickoffs), and I don't really have a better idea. Perhaps this will result in so many touchbacks that the league can comfortably create a new commercial break where we miss the kickoff altogether — fingers crossed, NFL owners!

The final rule to be implemented whenever the NFL plays again is that all scoring plays can be reviewed on instant replay at the behest of the officials in the review booth, not just the coaches.

This is a teensy-tiny step in the right direction, but doesn't address the worst instant replay rule, which is that coaches only get two challenges per game, and only pick up a third if they were correct on the first two.

There are fewer bigger proponents of NFL officials, and sports referees in general, than myself. I note that fans and pundits generally only complain when they make a mistake against their team. When was the last time you heard someone say, "Whoa! We really got away with one there! Thanks for that bad call that benefitted us, refs!" Even if one does acknowledge a bad call that benefits their team, they see it as an only-fair, poetic justice for all the wrongs done to their team in the past.

But refs generally do a great job, especially in the NFL, which is played at blinding speed television doesn't even begin to capture. But they do make mistakes — and by God, it's possible they would make more than three mistakes in a game on those split-second out-of-bounds plays or possible fumbles where only the advent of a dozen cameras can find the angle which shows whether the runner's knee was down or not.

If a coach makes a challenge that is ultimately overturned, he should not lose the challenge. As long as the refs, bless their hearts, keep getting it wrong, a coach should not have a maximum of three opportunities to right those wrongs. Let the coaches only lose challenge opportunities for lost challenges. It's simple, it's fair, it's right.