Earlier this week, NFL Hall of Famer Troy Aikman suggested that the NFL rule book need to be re-written.
He’s right. But I’ll go a step further.
The NFL rule book needs to be burned. The league should completely start over.
Aside from the fact that football is an increasingly dangerous game, the biggest problem is — we’re increasingly forcing men in their 50s and 60s to make game-altering decisions. They have to make razor-thin judgment calls. And, they often get it wrong. With NFL players getting bigger and faster, and the game now impossible to decipher without the use of instant replay, games aren’t necessarily won and lost on the field anymore. Wins and losses are increasingly determined by an official’s marginal call.
Consider two games played last week.
The New England-Carolina game ended with a major controversy when pass interference wasn’t called on the final play. I rarely like pass interference to be called. In fact, I prefer rules that allow the defender to do his job. There are way too many pass interference calls in the NFL, where the games are almost impossible to watch anymore. But this was clearly a case where a flag should have been thrown (and upheld). Whether you agree or not with the flag, the trouble is that referees are forced into these decisions. Instead, why not just let defenders make casual contact and go after the ball? That’s how the rule should be written.
The other major controversy took place in the San Francisco-New Orleans game where the Saints clearly got a break on roughing the passer call, which determined the outcome of the game. I’m as big a Saints fan as anyone, but that was a horrible call. San Francisco probably should have won that game, and would have had it not been for the flag-happy official.
There are three serious problems with pro football rules — offensive holding, pass interference, and forward progress. Only one of these components is subject to instant replay review. In other words, holding and interference flags cannot be overturned by instant replay. I find this to be abominable. Then again, how about just scrapping all of these judgement penalties (except in the most egregious cases such as where players risk being injured)? That would essentially solve the problem.
The very worst rule in the NFL is the forward progress rule, particularly as it applies to scoring a touchdown. A player can be standing on the two-yard-line, but if he stretches the call forward across something called “an invisible plane,” it’s ruled a touchdown. Ridiculous.
Sorry, but I don’t think a touchdown should be given when a player isn’t even standing in the same zip code.
Now, any player who gets anywhere close to the goal line reaches the ball forward, hoping to be the beneficiary of a touchdown ruling. It just seems so totally wrong to give a team 6 points when the ball carrier is physically present OUTSIDE of the end zone. Worse, we’re forcing split-second decisions to be made by referees (often positioned far away), which are often impossible to judge correctly.
The revised rule should be that for any touchdown to be scored the player must make some kind of contact with the end zone, meaning the field of play. A foot in bounds. A hand in bounds. The ball hitting the field, across the goal line. The players body on the ground, holding the ball. You know, where the player actually makes contact in some way with the end zone. Indeed, the act of scoring should include a PHYSICAL presence of some kind in the end zone — not across some “imaginary plane.”
The very worst example of this is when a player nears the sidelines and is running out of bounds, and then actually goes out way short of the goal line. But if the player reaches the ball out — and in the mind of an official it crosses some indecipherable line in mid-air — a touchdown is ruled.
Absolutely ridiculous.
Why is standing two-yards away from the end zone worthy of a score? No — instead, the player should be required to make some kind of contact with the field, across the goal line. Such a rule would also be much easier to judge and enforce.
Aikman is right. The NFL rule book needs to be completely scrapped and re-written. New rules should prioritize player safety and removing judgement calls from the game as much as possible.
NOLAN DALLA: 2013 NFL SEASON RECORD
58 WINS — 50 LOSSES — 3 PUSHES
LAST WEEK – 0 WINS — 1 LOSSES
STARTING BANKROLL: $10,000.
CURRENT BANKROLL: $6,685.
NET GAIN/LOSS: minus $3,315.
BEST BETS: 8–14–1
THIS WEEK’S PLAYS:
Watch this.
I’m pounding three games this week for the max. Three of the worst teams in football. It’s all or nothing:
TAMPA BAY +8 vs. DETROIT — $2,200 to win $2,000
JACKSONVILLE +10 vs. HOUSTON — $2,200 to win $2,000
ST. LOUIS -2 vs. CHICAGO — $2,200 to win $2,000 <<<BEST BET>>>
If you’re smart, you’ll bet these games yourself.
………………..
PENDING NFL FUTURES WAGERS
DALLAS COWBOYS UNDER 8.5 WINS (-125) —– Wagering $750 to win $600
NEW YORK GIANTS OVER 9 WINS (-105) —– Wagering $1,050 to win $1,000
GREEN BAY PACKERS UNDER 10.5 WINS (-115) —– Wagering $575 to win $500
TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS UNDER 7.5 WINS (+105) *BEST BET* —– Wagering $1,500 to win $1,575
NEW ORLEANS OVER 9 WINS (-165) —– Wagering $1,650 to win $1,000
ST. LOUIS RAMS OVER 7.5 WINS (-110) —– Wagering $440 to win $400
BALTIMORE RAVENS OVER 8.5 WINS (-110) —– Wagering $1,100 to win $1,000
INDIANAPOLIS COLTS OVER 8.5 WINS (-110) —– Wagering $880 to win $800
OAKLAND RAIDERS UNDER 5.5 (-180) — Wagering $1,800 to win $1,000
……………..
NOLAN DALLA: 2012 FINAL NFL SEASON RECORD
98 WINS – 87 LOSSES – 6 PUSHES —– (+ 34.6 units / 1 unit = $100)
STARTING BANKROLL: $10,000.
ENDING BANKROLL: $13,460.
NET GAIN: +$3,460
BEST BETS OF THE WEEK: 14-7-0