Questions About Some New NFL Rules

[Innuendo_Hunter]

Players are prohibited from grabbing the inside collar of the back or side of the shoulder pads and immediately pulling down the runner. This rule does not apply to a quarterback in the pocket or a runner in the tackle box. Previously, there was no regulation about the “horse-collar” tackle. This rule does not apply to the quarterback in the pocket. Penalty: loss of 15 yards. Reason for the change: Will prevent injury that can result from this tackling technique.

If this rule is about safety, why does it not apply to a QB in the pocket, or a runner in the tackle box?

From what I understand, this rule came about primarily because of one player, Roy Williams, who used this tackle technique quite a bit. What other rules have come about because one player’s actions?

An offensive player who is aligned in the tackle box at the snap and moves to a position outside the box cannot initiate contact on the side and below the waist of an opponent if the player is moving back toward the direction of his own end line. If the near shoulder of the blocker contacts the front of his opponent’s body, the “peel back” block is legal. Previously, a player aligned in the tackle box could hit an opponent on the side and below the waist from any direction. Penalty: loss of 15 yards. Reason for the change: Player safety.

I feel like a moron for asking this, but, umm, what is a “peel back” block?

A kicker/punter standing still or fading backwards after the ball has been kicked is out of the play and must not be unnecessarily contacted by the receiving team until he assumes a distinctly defensive position. An opponent may not unnecessarily initiate helmet-to-helmet contact to the kicker/punter at anytime during the kick or during the return. Previously, there was no regulation about contact with a kicker/punter after he kicked the ball, nor was there any regulation about helmet-to-helmet contact with the kicker. Reason for the change: Prevents teams from gaining an unfair advantage as a result of injury to a punter/kicker, a position at which there is little to no depth.

What? I thought the previous rule was pretty clear: You can’t run into the kicker/punter. What is all of this about fading backwards, and regaining a defensive position?

If, during a scrimmage kick, a player is called for illegal touching inside the receiver’s 5-yard line, the receiving team may elect to take a touchback. Previously, the receiving team could choose to take the ball at the spot of the foul or elect for the kicking team to lose five yards and re-kick. Reason for the change: Prevents an ineligible player from keeping a kick from entering the end zone and becoming a touchback.

Illegal touching? What players’ are ineligible from preventing a kick from entering the end zone?

A player or an official is out of bounds when he touches anything other than a player, an official or a pylon on or outside a boundary line. Previously, officials outside a boundary were considered out of bounds. This change pertains mostly to cases where players running along the sideline contact officials standing on the boundary line. Reason for the change: Helps with officiating consistency.

A player or an official is out of bounds when he touches anything other than a player, an official or a pylon on or outside a boundary line.

::blink::

I had to read this sentence a couple of times, before I came close to grasping what in the world they are talking about, and I’m still somewhat confused.

An official is out of bounds when he touches anything other than a player, another official, or a pylon on or outside a boundary line?!

What happens if a runner touches someone on the sidelines, but his feet remain inbounds? Is this the “player” that they are referring to when it says “touches anything other than a player”, or does “player” mean an active player on the field?

[D_Odds]

A qb in the pocket or rb in the tackle box doesn’t have much momentum, thus a collar tackle is not as dangerous as it would be at a full gallup.

Last year, there was the case where a kicker (can’t remember the name) was viciously blocked blindside far away from the play and laid out. The rule was in response to that.

Can’t speak to the others without a little research, and can’t do that now (or the rest of the day).

[brianjedi]

The last rule refers to, I think, when a player dives for the end zone and makes contact with an official who is standing on the sideline. The player would have been judged to have stepped out of bounds at the point of contact, even if his feet remained inbounds. Now the rule says that the player isn’t out of bounds if he hits the official and remains inbounds.

I think. Why can’t the NFL take a hint from MLB and write the rulebook so it’s readable?

[anson2995]

Lotsa questions… I think I can tackle them all (forgive the pun).

1. The horse-collar tackle is especially dangerous to a player moving at high speed, and that’s not usually a factor for a QB in the pocket. For those who don’t know, you basically grab the player by the back of the shoulder pads and ride them down. This rule stems primarily from the Roy Williams tackle of Terrell Owens, but several others have also suffered serious injuries in the last couple of seasons.

2. A peel back block is a block below the waist from behind. It’s usually used on screen passes or interceptions, and in practice, frequently against players who aren’t expecting it. This rule stems from the infamous hit Warren Sapp put on Chad Clifton a few years ago.

3. Quite simply, you can’t make contact with a punter or kicker while they are kicking the ball. On the ensuing play, you’re free to make contact with them if they’re attempting to make a tackle or throw a block. The clarification here is that the kicker is not fair game simply because the ball has been kicked.

4. Illegal touching occurs when a player who has gone out of bounds is the first person to touch a kicked ball.

5. That last one is kind of related to number 4. If a player is running down field and collides with an official who is standing out of bounds, then the player is not considered to have gone out of bounds. This situation can also occur on pass plays. A receiver who has gone out of bounds is no longer an eligible receiver.

[anson2995]

@brianjedi

I think. Why can’t the NFL take a hint from MLB and write the rulebook so it’s readable?

The rulebook itself is fine. The problem was the article the OP was quoting, which reads like one of those poorly translated instructions manuals.

[lno]

Thanks for linking to that, anson2995. After reading that, I’ve got a follow-up question:

Touchdown Awarded (Palpably Unfair Act)

1. When Referee determines a palpably unfair act deprived a team of a touchdown. (Example: Player comes off bench and tackles runner apparently en route to touchdown.)

Has this ever been applied in an NFL game? Not necessarily that specific example, but any touchdown awarded by a referee?

[BobT]

Illegal touching is when the team that is punting touches the ball anytime before the receiving does. The OP refers to a particular twist in it. But illegal touching, like “Monster Island”, it’s just a name.

Basically if the kicking team punts the ball and one of its cover guys touches the ball in the field of play, it’s illegal touching. The ref throws down a little marker to show where it happened. The receiving team can then:

1. leave the ball alone
2. pick it up and run with it

If they run with it, they can take the result of the runback or take the ball where it was illegally touched. It’s essentially a free play because if the receiver fumbles, the ball can just go back to where it was touched by the kicking team.

Unless there’s a penalty. Then it gets all screwed up.

The part about where a ref awards a touchdown happened most famously in a Cotton Bowl game in the 1950s when an Alabama guy came off the bench to tackle a Rice player on a long run.

[Innuendo_Hunter]

@BobT

Illegal touching is when the team that is punting touches the ball anytime before the receiving does. The OP refers to a particular twist in it. But illegal touching, like “Monster Island”, it’s just a name.

Basically if the kicking team punts the ball and one of its cover guys touches the ball in the field of play, it’s illegal touching.

What? Teams punt and “down” the ball, before the receiving team touches it, all the time!

I’m so confused…

[anson2995]

@Innuendo Hunter

What? Teams punt and “down” the ball, before the receiving team touches it, all the time!

I’m so confused…

Technically, it’s an illegal touch when they do this. It’s rule 12 in the kicking section

12. Any member of the punting team may down the ball anywhere in the field of play. However, it is illegal touching (Official’s time out and receiver’s ball at spot of illegal touching). This foul does not offset any foul by receivers during the down.

However, that’s not the type of illegal touch that was being refered to in the OP’s article. Rather, it’s a player who is ineligible to touch the ball, usually because he waent out of bounds.

[Crandolph]

@anson2995

1. The horse-collar tackle is especially dangerous to a player moving at high speed, and that’s not usually a factor for a QB in the pocket. For those who don’t know, you basically grab the player by the back of the shoulder pads and ride them down. This rule stems primarily from the Roy Williams tackle of Terrell Owens, but several others have also suffered serious injuries in the last couple of seasons.

Oddly enough T.O. was brought down by exactly this kind of tackle in a pre-season game (against the Bengals) this year & it wasn’t called. There was a lot of talk on local sports radio about whether or not the rule was going to be enforced. Concensus was that the officials on the field blew an excellent chance to establish the rule early in a game that didn’t matter, but was being pretty widely watched because it featured Owens’ return.

[Innuendo_Hunter]

Oh, hehe, thanks anson. I never knew they classified that as “illegal”. If it’s truly “illegal” there should be some sort of penalty, no?! Bizarro!

So, I assume that the only way to illegally touch (the penalty kind, not the “normal” kind) a ball on a punt by the kicking team, is if the a player on the kicking team goes out of bounds and comes back in? I can’t think of any others.

[anson2995]

@lno

Thanks for linking to that, anson2995. After reading that, I’ve got a follow-up question:Has this ever been applied in an NFL game? Not necessarily that specific example, but any touchdown awarded by a referee?

I should have linked to the rules at the official NFL site… the link I gave earlier was a copy of that, and who knows if it will be up to date in the future.
As for whether a player’s ever come off the bench to make a tackle, I’m not aware of that ever happening in the NFL. **BobT ** was correct when he says this happened in a college game. In the 1954 Cotton Bowl (Jan 1954), an Alabama player named Tommy Lewis came off the bench to tackle Rice halfback Dicky Maegle. The refs ruled it a 95-yard touchdown run, and Rice won 28-7. Here’s a link to a story about the incident.

[anson2995]

@Innuendo Hunter

So, I assume that the only way to illegally touch (the penalty kind, not the “normal” kind) a ball on a punt by the kicking team, is if the a player on the kicking team goes out of bounds and comes back in? I can’t think of any others.

A player who goes into the endzone can not come back into the field of play and be the first one to to touch the ball, asme as if he was out of play.

Also a linemen who is downfield too early, i.e. “ineligible man down field.”

[BobT]

“Illegal touching” is a penalty in the sense that if the kicking team touches the ball at say, the 20-yard line, but doesn’t stop and it rolls down to the 1, the ball would get placed back on the 20, the spot of the illegal touching.

Also if the kicking team touches the ball at the 5 and it rolls into the end zone, the receivers technically have an option of taking the ball at the spot of the illegal touching (the 5) or the result of the play (a touchback).

NFL and college rules differ a bit on illegal touching. In the NFL, a player can leap into the air in front of the goal line in an attempt to keep the ball in the field of play and down it deep. But you can’t do that in college football.

[SCSimmons]

@anson2995

1. The horse-collar tackle is especially dangerous to a player moving at high speed, and that’s not usually a factor for a QB in the pocket. For those who don’t know, you basically grab the player by the back of the shoulder pads and ride them down. This rule stems primarily from the Roy Williams tackle of Terrell Owens, but several others have also suffered serious injuries in the last couple of seasons.

Roy Williams ended two receivers’ and one running back’s seasons last year with this kind of tackle, two broken legs and one torn ACL … And when one of them is a marquee player like Owens, it’s not too surprising to see a rule like this implemented.

[EllisDee]

Some good answers in this thread, but they’re spread around piecemeal. I’ll see if I can clarify a couple things for you.

@Innuendo Hunter

If this rule is about safety, why does it not apply to a QB in the pocket, or a runner in the tackle box?

Already answered; it’s more dangerous at high speed.

I feel like a moron for asking this, but, umm, what is a “peel back” block?

They described the block in the same text; after describing it, they named it with quotes.

What? I thought the previous rule was pretty clear: You can’t run into the kicker/punter. What is all of this about fading backwards, and regaining a defensive position?

It was Jeff feagles of the Giants that got, in the words of Monday night Countdown, JACKED UP. He punted, then started lazily jogging in the general direction of the returner, when he got obliterated by an viscious block. At the time, there was nothing he could have done to prevent it. Now, with this new rule change, he can opt to either just stand still or creep backwards in order to be officially off limits to such blocks. (He may actually do that, as opposed to the Giants kicker, Jay Feely, who loves to make tackles. He may be a short guy, but he clearly works out a lot and has delusions of being an actual football player.)

Illegal touching? What players’ are ineligible from preventing a kick from entering the end zone?

In all aspects of the game, players who go out of bounds cannot be the first player to touch the ball. This mostly applies to downing punts, but also bit the Panthers in the ass last week when they had touchdown passes negated twice because the receiver nicked the sideline while running the route. Twice!

The other type of “illegal touching” discussed in this thread is accurate, but does not apply to this rule you are asking about. This rule change means that if a player steps out of bounds, then downs the punt inside the five, in addition to the “take it there” or “rekick with 5 yard penatly” options, there is a new “touchback” option available to the receiving team. The reason for this change is stated as unfairly preventing deserved touchbacks, but the implementation has a different motivation: game speed. Since nobody would ever just take a ball inside their own 5, every instance of this scenario used to result in a rekick. Rekicks are very time-consuming, so the NFL put in this rule change to avoid the necessity. Many of the specials teams rules you ever see the NFL consider have the underlying motivation of speeding the game up. Bill Parcells discussed this topic at length in the preseason; his opinion is that he hates to see kicks removed from the game, as special teams are critical to success and a huge part of the game, but he conceded that he could see the value in keeping the game moving along.

A player or an official is out of bounds when he touches anything other than a player, an official or a pylon on or outside a boundary line.

You already answered this one correctly yourself.

anson2995, I’m almost positive that’s not the official rulebook. It’s the watered-down version they make available to the public. The actual, official rules are not public as far as I know. Also, regarding illegal touching:

A player who goes into the endzone can not come back into the field of play and be the first one to to touch the ball, asme as if he was out of play.

That is not correct. A player who touches the endzone must establish both feet back in the field of play before he can be the first to touch the ball; as long as he does so, there is no problem. (Unlike out of bounds, which can’t be “washed away” by reestablishing the feet.)