NFL - NEWS & NOTES

The NFL has made a major rule change aimed at player safety, banning all plays on which a player lowers his head to initiate contact with his helmet.

“It is a foul if a player lowers his head to initiate and make contact with his helmet against an opponent,” the new rule says, according to the NFL. “The player may be disqualified. Applies to any player anywhere on the field.”

Rich McKay, chair of the league’s Competition Committee, said today that the rule change is a big one that will outlaw a technique that we’ve previously seen often in the game of football.

“This is a pretty significant change,” McKay said. “We felt it was time for a change of this magnitude.”

McKay said the NFL’s research has found that a large number of concussions happen on plays when a player lowers his head, and that banning such techniques will make the game safer.

Until we see the precise wording of the rule, and how strictly the officials enforce it, it’s hard to say how big an impact this change will have. But with the NFL now imposing a 15-yard penalty for a technique that we’ve previously seen often in football, this sounds like it’s going to have a major impact on the sport. (PFT)

 

Ryan Shazier rule

 

Sucks to have it named for you after a serious but preventable (stupid) injury. Remember Gus Ferrote fucking up his neck after a TD and ramming his head into the wall pads? I can see this rule change immediately impacting RBs primarily.

 

There is a relatively recent rule in the NFL or college to prevent RBs from lowering their heads but it never got called ever.

 

Shazier brought his injury on himself by tackling piss poor. It’s the only way you can stop those types of injuries. So do offensive players get penalized for lowering their heads too.

 

Guess you could call it the Philly special?

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.co...ew-catch-rule-in-super-bowl-replay-decisions/

I still cannot believe the Clement catch stood. That was far far worse than the Jesse James catch and nowhere near the outrage.

 

Ertz's catch was a TD no matter which rules were being used. By replay rules Clement's was correct as well, if there isn't clear evidence, go with the call on the field.

 

There was though, ball came free one foot down, incomplete. New rules really shouldn’t have impacted either catch really. It’ll be fun when the whining about all the fumbles comes.

 

The ground can cause a fumble when the player is untouched. Most of the catches that were Disputed defenders already touched the
WR wouldn’t be fumbles.

 

With new rulz, more db's are needed. They are the biggest helmet users.

 

You must be talking about Clement. Ertz was a TD all day every day.

 

Clement's catch was close. I really didn't think there was enough visual evidence to overturn the call on the field. If it was called incomplete, that call would have stood as well.

 

First guy that fumbles going to the end zone vs the Patriots, just wait for it lol.

 

I don't think it was a catch but I also don't think it was indisputable. The league told the refs to follow the actual rules during the game and not to overturn anything that wasn't 100% indisputably wrong. Funny huh?

We've had this talk how many times now? lol

 

Pretty sure we've been in agreement since the play happened lol By the rulebook, both plays were TDs no matter which rules they were using

 

New helmet rule passed unanimously

It didn’t appear on last week’s (supposedly) comprehensive list of proposed rule changes. By Tuesday afternoon, however, it passed with a vote of 32-0: “Lowering the head to initiate contact with the helmet is a foul.”

The rule came from Proposal No. 11 of the Competition Committee, which had made only 10 proposals in advance of the annual meetings.

Per a source with knowledge of the situation, the process began in Indianapolis, during the Scouting Combine. Last week, discussions continued among the members of the Competition Committee, with Saints coach Sean Payton (a first-year member of the committee) being very supportive of the rule.

As of Sunday, presentations began to be made to coaches and General Managers. Discussion occurred during Tuesday’s meetings, with the vote and announcement delayed to the afternoon due to efforts to firm up the language of the rule.

As of the morning session, however, support for the rule change already was universal among the owners and coaches. Which confirms just how seriously the league is now taking the effort to get the head out of the game whenever and wherever possible.

The fact that the potential change wasn’t known until the change was made invites speculation that the league wanted to make its decision without input from fans, media, and/or hot-take artists who potentially would try to shout down a revision to the rules that will further change, in a subtle but very real way, the manner in which the game is played and, more importantly, how the game looks.

While the goal surely will be to persuade lower levels of the sport to follow suit, the move represents another tangible difference to the game that, if/when enough total differences emerge, could set the stage for an alternative professional league in which all players know the risks, embrace the hazards, and play the game the way it used to be played. (PFT)

 

Browns exploring possible uniform changes

When it comes to iconic NFL uniforms, the current iteration worn by the Cleveland Browns doesn’t rank high on the list.

The Browns changed their uniform design for the start of the 2015 season. In a video announcing the changes, Todd Van Horne of Nike said the Browns “were really, really clear about what they wanted to do” with their redesigned uniforms.

Much like the continual changing of direction in the front office, the team now appears to want to change track once again with the team’s uniforms after just three seasons in their current garb.

According to Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal, co-owner Dee Haslam said at the league meetings that the team has begun to discuss uniform changes with the NFL.

“We’ve had some mechanical difficulties with our uniforms, which has been very frustrating for the equipment guys, so I can definitely see that from a mechanical standpoint, we have to fix that,” Haslam said. “From a design element, that’s really up in the air.

“They’ve not been very popular with our fans, and obviously we serve at the pleasure of our fans. … We definitely are going to look at it, and I think we were pretty new when that started the last time. We really didn’t understand the process. I think we’re much better equipped at it now to make better decisions.”

The Browns can’t change their uniforms again until 2020 as the league prohibits changes within five years of a previous redesign.

The team’s current uniforms aren’t particularly inspiring. Of course, it doesn’t help it that the team that has worn them has won just one game in the last two seasons either. (PFT)

 

These new rules changes, in my opinion, are just going to lead to more controversy, onfield confusion and more replays.

 

James almost lost or did lose half the ball to the ground. i still think it's a TD the moment he crossed the goalline, although I know the rule is different for WR and he wasn't a runner like Ertz was in the SB. clement had it pinned to his elbow and chest before he stepped out of bounds. Clement's was a TD and easier to call bf he never lost the ball till AFTER he was out of bounds. James' was murky because you couldn't clearly tell if his one hand was under the ball in the endzone or if he trapped it.

 

? he has it with both feet down bf he steps out. granted it's milliseconds that he has control and both feet down but he did it. the "bobble" of the ball was never proven bc he never lost the ball out of his hands. he pinned it to his chest and elbow. a bobble is a juggling of the ball back and forth in both hands. clement had his hands on the ball and pinned to his chest and elbow.