New Rules of Emphasis by NFL Officiating
The NFL referees met with the local media today to discuss the new rule changes and points of emphasis on existing rules.
One of the the new “tweaks” is the hitting the defenseless receiver rule. A 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty has already been assessed when a defender leads with his head and launches himself into the head of the receiver. Now, the rule has been expanded to cover hits to the receiver’s head AND neck by he defender’s helmet, shoulder, or arm. The 15-yard penalty is still enforced.
Also, the NFL Officiating Committee has expanded it’s protections of the long snapper on punts and kick-offs. Before, the nose tackle couldn’t line up directly in front of the snapper and had to have his helmet lined up outside the snapper’s shoulder pads. Now, because of continued injury or risk of injury to the long snapper, defender now must line up with their inside shoulder pad to the outside of the long snapper’s pads.
Two new rules have been introduced. The first one is the change in overtime possession. At the start of the overtime period, both teams will have an oportunity to possess the ball. The caveat being that if he team who gets the ball first scores a touchdown, they win the game. If the first team (Team A) who possess the ball scores field goal or doesn’t score at all, then the other team (Team B) gets possession. If Team B, while on the punt or kickoff, muffs the return and loses the ball (fumble) to Team A, then the game is over. A kickoff or punt return is considered a chance at possession. If both teams come away from their initial overtime tries with a 0-0 or 3-3 tie, then it goes BACK to sudden death rules. This new rule will only be applied to playoff games.
The other new rule is the ball is ruled dead if a ball carrier’s helmet comes off during live play regardless if he is tackled or not. The ball will be spotted at the spot when the helmet came off.
