How I would fix the NFL

[t-man]

Or how I would un-**** it up.

Rules go back to spearing/launching and leading with the crown of the helmet, penalty. All this other "hit to the head" bullshit is gone. Here are the helmets you have to select from, here is the contract saying you agree to play with the equipment provided, or provide your own should it meet with the guidelines, and after signing said contract, any and all risk falls back on you.

Kickoffs get moved back to the 20, let's have kickoffs be exciting again.

Extra points stay where they are.

Keep the one possession per team OT rules as they are.

Coaches get challenges till they get two wrong. Every play can be challenged. Period.

Officials would be graded in an open grading system, with those not meeting a standard released after a set number of poor calls in a set amount of time.

One policy for off the field issues. Conviction of ANY violent crime, minimum, 1 year suspension. 2nd offense, lifetime ban. Nonvoilent crime, subject to much less harsh penalties.

Joe

 

[t-man]

Oh, and rosters go to 75.

Enough with the bullshit, if you want players to be safe, allow teams some freedom to limit playing time when needed without sacrificing their ability to compete.

Joe

 

[bmoritz]

You got my vote for new commissioner. Oh, and add "stop the overseas games/teams BS".

 

[Troglodyte]

You wouldn't have to move kick offs back, just make the rule that it must be kicked into the field of play, if it rolls into the end zone, it cannot be downed, if it is kicked into the end zone it can be downed but it comes out to the 40 (same as if it goes out of bounds).

 

[Litos]

t--man for commisioner!!!

You got my vote for new commissioner. Oh, and add "stop the overseas games/teams BS".

agree, also there should be a committee for the punishment of the off field issues, one of the members should be also a member of the NFLPA

 

[FordFairLane]

I agree with most but for replay I completely take the refs and coaches out of it. I hire a bunch of people to review every play and if they see a bad call they have the power to stop the game. They show the others watch the replay very quickly, like 10-20 second and vote (lets say there's 5 people) majority rules and they relay the correct call to the field. Total stopage of the game should never reach more than 1 minute. Any ref that blows a whistle thinking he saw a knee was down or an arm moving forward on a fumble and is incorrect is fined 100% of their game check. Last night it was clear the Bucs QB fumbled and the ref blew the whistle. Unless you are 100% sure of that you do NOT blow the whistle. It is better to let the play run out and let the "booth" make the correct call on replay. Again if you take the refs out of it you won't delay the game more than a minute.

I agree on being able to let Refs go because of bad calls but because of the cry baby packers the Refs now have a union so I doubt any fines or suspensions or firings can happen. That was one good thing Rog was trying to do was make refs accountable for their calls but after the Golden Tate TD call he had to just give the Refs what they were asking for. The funny part is the first few weeks the replacement refs were doing GREAT it wasn't until Goodell stuck is nose in it and made them start throwing more flags when it got screwed up. The replacement refs at first didn't throw a flag unless they were 100% sure but then Brady got hit and Rog got in a tizzy and called the refs out to make more calls. Too bad for the NFL.

I would request but not require NFL plays to wear body cameras at all time and monitor their homes with cameras. That way there is always a clear account of what has happened. If the camera is turned off or deleted you are presumed guilty. If you get accused but decided against wearing the camera, you are presumed guilty. I do believe some of these aligations are BS or the circumstances aren't realized and the only way to protect yourself is clear visual proof of the accounts. Suspension 1 year then life seems fair to me.

For rosters I would just say the 53 man roster can dress. That would improve teams abilities to take an injured player off the field to get them evaluated better.

 

[Bigappleyinzer]

I agree with everything you outlined.


Its funny that your average "Joe" can see what a commissioner of 9 years can not

 

[JupiterBnG]

You wouldn't have to move kick offs back, just make the rule that it must be kicked into the field of play, if it rolls into the end zone, it cannot be downed, if it is kicked into the end zone it can be downed but it comes out to the 40 (same as if it goes out of bounds).

Ehhh... I'd rather just see the kickoffs moved back to the 20. Much simpler to implement and enforce, and some of these kickers would STILL be booming kickoffs into the end zone. I still don't understand why they moved kicks back to the 30 to make the play more exciting a few years ago, then quickly moved it back to the 35 again in the name of "safety." I don't see how player safety has changed either way - you still have players getting up a 40- or 50-yard head of steam before hitting someone downfield.

 

[Bigappleyinzer]

You wouldn't have to move kick offs back, just make the rule that it must be kicked into the field of play, if it rolls into the end zone, it cannot be downed, if it is kicked into the end zone it can be downed but it comes out to the 40 (same as if it goes out of bounds).

Hold on- this rule is kind of dope.

Basically would have to be strategic with your Kickoff game.

However, you would have to move illegal kickoff's (sidelines) up to the 45 or 50. Because it is much easier to kick the ball OB at the 10 than it is to kick it out of the endzone...

 

[t-man]

I agree with everything you outlined.


Its funny that your average "Joe" can see what a commissioner of 9 years can not

My Dad used to say "Some people are so smart, they're stupid". I think our commish is one of them. He went the "backpedal, dodge, and fine" route with this whole player safety thing, instead of just coming right out and saying "You wanna be safe, get a desk job. Any job you wear a helmet and pads to do, is going to come with some risk"

Joe

 

[fogdoctor]

Dear Joe,

When you come to power please:
1) repeal the Hines Ward rule and the Mel Blount rule. I want to enjoy WR initiated crack back blocks and eliminate diva WRs from the NFL.
2) eliminate cut blocks because they are bullshit.

Thanks,
F

 

[Troglodyte]

Hold on- this rule is kind of dope.

Basically would have to be strategic with your Kickoff game.

However, you would have to move illegal kickoff's (sidelines) up to the 45 or 50. Because it is much easier to kick the ball OB at the 10 than it is to kick it out of the endzone...

Teams wouldn't want to kick it into the end zone just as they don't want to kick it out of bounds.

 

[Troglodyte]

Ehhh... I'd rather just see the kickoffs moved back to the 20. Much simpler to implement and enforce, and some of these kickers would STILL be booming kickoffs into the end zone. I still don't understand why they moved kicks back to the 30 to make the play more exciting a few years ago, then quickly moved it back to the 35 again in the name of "safety." I don't see how player safety has changed either way - you still have players getting up a 40- or 50-yard head of steam before hitting someone downfield.

The NFL would never go for moving it back to the 20 because that brings back the likelihood of high speed collisions. If you keep the current rules but force them to put the ball in play, you'd have KO returns on virtually every kickoff.

 

[Bigappleyinzer]

Teams wouldn't want to kick it into the end zone just as they don't want to kick it out of bounds.

I am just saying that the penalty for kicking it thru the EZ should be less than that of kicking it OB. Being that it is a much more difficult feat that not every kicker can do.

Other than that, I like the suggestion

 

[Troglodyte]

I am just saying that the penalty for kicking it thru the EZ should be less than that of kicking it OB. Being that it is a much more difficult feat that not every kicker can do.

Other than that, I like the suggestion

But what does the difficulty of doing it have to do with a penalty? They shouldn't want to do either.

 

[zapp brannigan]

You accidentally said 'Coaches get challenges till they get two wrong. Every play can be challenged. Period.' when you meant to say:

Instant replay is eliminated.

 

[JupiterBnG]

The NFL would never go for moving it back to the 20 because that brings back the likelihood of high speed collisions. If you keep the current rules but force them to put the ball in play, you'd have KO returns on virtually every kickoff.

I don't buy the increased risk of high-speed collisions argument. Whether you start from the 35, the 30 or the 20:

• The formations of the players and their relative distances from one another are basically unchanged.
• The kicking team players have a 10-yard running start to hit the nearest opponent across from you - that doesn't change regardless where you kick from.
• Based on most kickoffs, the first person to reach the return guy has already run 40-50 yards and the returner has likely also run at least 10-20 yards, neither is going to be running substantially faster if the kickoff is moved back. They will have accelerated to peak speeds within the first few yards.

Where the ball is kicked from has essentially no bearing on the speed of a collision, just on whether or not a kick is likely to be fielded and returned. I haven't seen any statistics that show that injuries resulting from collisions (I'm not talking about incidental contact or someone pulls a hammy or twists and ankle) have been reduced by moving the kickoff back to the 35, other than that there are simply fewer kickoffs returned.

 

[steelerscotty]

Or how I would un-**** it up.

Rules go back to spearing/launching and leading with the crown of the helmet, penalty. All this other "hit to the head" bullshit is gone. Here are the helmets you have to select from, here is the contract saying you agree to play with the equipment provided, or provide your own should it meet with the guidelines, and after signing said contract, any and all risk falls back on you.

Kickoffs get moved back to the 20, let's have kickoffs be exciting again.

Extra points stay where they are.

Keep the one possession per team OT rules as they are.

Coaches get challenges till they get two wrong. Every play can be challenged. Period.

Officials would be graded in an open grading system, with those not meeting a standard released after a set number of poor calls in a set amount of time.

One policy for off the field issues. Conviction of ANY violent crime, minimum, 1 year suspension. 2nd offense, lifetime ban. Nonvoilent crime, subject to much less harsh penalties.

Joe

My take:

ALL contact rules should be reset to the year 1990 and then reviewed by a comittee to see if the changes from the last 25 years really accomplished anything . . .my guess is NO on most of them. ALL involved with the game must sign a waiver admitting they know the dangers of the game and agreeing not to sue over injuries sustained while playing or practicing. This would NOT include stuff like being told by doctors to continue to play with a head injury, being told to take a numbing agent to continue to play etc. OBVIOUS no brainer stuff your personal doctor would tell you its not a good idea to do.

I dont know about moving kicks back to the 20, but at least back to where only the best of the best could kick it out of the back of the endzone. Hell, even a weak-legged kicker like Suissy can ALMOST get it out the back.

I like the idea of moving the extra point up to the one yard line. I would also like to make it possible for the defense to score 2 pts if they can block or int or ret a fumble.

OT rules are fine as is.

With the tech we have now i think all calls should reviewed as the game is in progress, upstairs. On most plays we, as fans,can tell if something should be reviewed so why couldnt a ref or a team of 2 decide which plays need it? They could "buzz" the ump to stop play whenever they needed to take a closer look at something.

Officials need to be FULLTIME employees and no 60-something year olds doing this part time.

I agree 100% with with Joe's take on off the field issues. I also think they need and independent entity to handle appeals. Having the commish with so much power was never a good idea to begin with.

 

[Stryker]

The overtime rules are ******* terrible. Uh, you get the ball and win with a TD unless you score a FG then the other team gets a chance to score a FG, if they score a FG than you can score another FG. Dammit, just give them a ******* tie, because that's what these OT rules create. THEY CREATE TIES.

Either Sudden Death, or College Rules. If we go college rules, you have to go for 2 every time a TD is scored. Want extra TDs for your fantasy team? Boom College OT rules. Win win.

Extra points to the 1yd line would boost the chance of going for 2 and make the end of games very exciting.

Leading with the head and spearing have always been in the rule book, and have never been enforced. If a player is flagged for it, a review should occur that helmet contact actually happened, instead of a great shoulder tackle for Mitchell vs the RayBans.