That’s sarcasm, of course. There is nothing enthralling about the new NFL rule changes, which were approved at the NFL owners meetings on Tuesday.
The most notable rule change is the extra point rule — that which places the PAT at the 15-yard line — is now permanent.
You already thought it was permanent? You’re not alone, but no, 2015 was a one-year trial of the rule. Everyone loved it so much, that it is now permanent.
There were six other rule changes approved, as well.
- All chop blocks are now illegal
- A delay of game penalty is earned if a team tries to call a timeout when it isn’t allowed to
- The five-yard penalty for an eligible receiver illegally touching a forward pass after being out of bounds and reestablishing himself in-bounds has been eliminated; it is now a loss of down
- Multiple spots of enforcement for a double foul after a change of possession have been eliminated
- Offensive or defensive play callers can communicate via coach-to-player radio with players regardless of whether they’re in the press box or on the field
- The horse collar tackle has been expanded to include the nameplate and above
None of those really do anything for us.
We imagine this horse collar addition will present another judgment call for officials to make and otherwise muck up a pretty easily-defined penalty to call.
If your middle finger touches the guy’s name, but the rest of your hand is outside of the nameplate, does that result in a penalty?
We can’t wait to find out!
It’s sure to be an exciting and worthwhile part of the game!