Comments on: The Good And Bad Of Proposed Football Rule Changes

By: DanHogan

DanHogan — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 16:46:45 +0000

Nice summary, and add me as a +1 to just about all of your conclusions. I’d like to see more leeway given to conferences to test on-field officiating tools without need of say-so from the NCAA. If the Big Ten finds that they keep screwing up calls in one part of the field, heck, allow them to add officials to that part of the field mid-season. Sure, maybe these changes need to be restricted to conference play so visiting teams aren’t at a disadvantage, but why would the NCAA impose restrictions on these?

Side question on #5 (color of field and unis). Does this apply to green teams on grass fields?

By: Catfish

Catfish — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 01:52:05 +0000

It’s almost possible to control whether you hit a defenseless player helmet to helmet. If you’re anywhere near the same height as them it just happens when you’re trying to catch up to them and tackle them if they catch it or knock it out before they do. I understand that it’s trying to protect defenseless players, but I do feel bad for the defenders who will get thrown out because of something they didn’t intentionally do.

By: The 10 football rule changes proposed by an NCAA committee – USA TODAY

The 10 football rule changes proposed by an NCAA committee – USA TODAY — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 19:49:38 +0000

[...] rules aim to suppress concussions and Lane KiffinSB NationYahoo! Sports -ESPN (blog) -MrSECall 32 news [...]

By: alamoaggie08

alamoaggie08 — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 19:47:37 +0000

well like you said at least their considering video replay with the ejection rule. with such a hazy definition there’s no way they could eject a player without complete certainty. you rarely see any ejections in football compared to other sports.

as far as #1 goes, that’s another hazy area. player safely is an important aspect, but not all teams are above using “cramps” to slow down hurry-up offenses, even if it’s just to get a sub in. i’ve mainly seen it from FCS schools, but it’s not unheard of at higher levels. it’s impossible to judge if a player truly has cramps or not (you can usually tell when they pop right up after the refs blow their whistles). on a wider spectrum and not just for the last minute of the half, i think a better approach to discourage feigning injury would be if a player goes down, he’s out for the rest of the drive or a certain amount of clock time, not simply one play.

By: Tiger Eyez

Tiger Eyez — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 18:53:13 +0000

Agree with your take on all rule changes.
Rule 1 is especially counterintuitive to player safety. It will encourage injured players to play rather than sap time on last-minute, possibly game-changing, drives