NFL Competition Committee Proposes Radical Rule Changes
The NFL’s competition committee has finalized a series of far-reaching rule change proposals. These modifications seek to adapt to the growing possibility of a work stoppage. This comes amid tense collective bargaining with the NFL Referees Association. The changes would only take effect if the NFL hires replacement referees. This process began earlier this month, contacting college and minor league officiating supervisors.
The current NFLRA collective bargaining agreement expires on May 31st. If the labor disruption were to extend into the regular season, the new rules would establish a type of centralized arbitration. The league hopes this will avoid the chaos of 2012, when replacement referees worked the first three weeks of the season. Although each game would still be officiated on the field, staff members at the league’s Art McNally GameDay Central command center in New York could weigh in on a wide variety of flagged and unflagged penalties. They would also assume additional roles after the two-minute warning and in overtime.
NFL owners will discuss and possibly vote on changes next week at their annual meeting in Phoenix. All rule changes require the approval of at least 24 of the league’s 32 teams.
According to the wording published by the NFL, league personnel could alert a substitute referee if they see clear and obvious evidence of an uncalled foul for roughing the passer, intentional grounding, or an act that would normally lead to disqualification.
These staff members could also alert substitute referees that a flag should not have been thrown if there is clear and obvious video evidence that “at least one element of the signaled foul is not present.” Fouls eligible for this alert include: twisting, pulling, or turning the facemask; roughing the passer; intentional grounding; horse-collar tackles; illegal contact; pass interference; and disqualification.
In 2019, the NFL conducted a one-year experiment that subjected pass interference to replay review. The effort stalled amid a confusing standard for overturning a decision on the field. In Tuesday’s proposal, the competition committee limited the involvement of league personnel only to circumstances in which “there was unintentional foot entanglement when both players were playing the ball or neither player was playing the ball”.
In addition, after the two-minute warning or in overtime, the list of penalties signaled or not signaled that league staff members could provide to the referees would be expanded to include unsportsmanlike conduct based on hitting or kicking an opponent. During kicks, league staff members could also consult on the rules of leveraging and jumping.
Finally, throughout a game, league staff members could help discern whether a foul should be classified as roughness or running into the kicker.
The NFLRA’s executive director, Scott Green, was surprised that the NFL would consider using replacement referees, given the potential threat to player safety, as well as what he said was a greater vulnerability to the game. In a statement, NFL executive vice president Jeff Miller said in part that the league had been “forced” to begin considering alternatives because “in nearly two years of negotiations, the union has made no effort to work with us on a goal we should all share: ensuring a culture of officiating that focuses on performance and accountability.”
The competition committee also proposed:
- A rule that, regardless of whether there are substitute referees, allows the referee to consult with league personnel about whether a penalized act was “flagrant” and should result in a disqualification. It would also allow league personnel to disqualify a player for a flagrant act, even if it was not flagged on the field. A penalty would also be assessed.
- Allow teams to declare a short kick at any point in a game, regardless of the score. Currently, teams can only use the short kick if they are losing.
- Close a loophole that incentivized teams to intentionally kick kickoffs out of bounds when kicking from the 50-yard line, due to a penalty on the opponent.
- A modification of the kickoff alignment requirements for the receiving team.
- Adjust the roster reduction dates and procedures to account for international games in the first week of the season.
The Cleveland Browns proposed allowing teams to trade draft picks up to five years in the future, instead of the current level of three.
