Quote:
Originally Posted by Dartgod
Did this draw a PF penalty?
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Owners adopt four safety-related rule changes
By Tom Silverstein of the Journal Sentinel
March 24, 2009
Dana Point, Calif. -- It's nothing akin to the introduction of instant replay or the "K" ball, but the NFL owners have approved four minor rule changes submitted by the league's competition committee.
All four rules were made with the safety of players in mind.
Rule Change No. 1: No blindside blocks in which there is contact to the player's head.
It will now be a 15-yard penalty if "the initial force of the contact by a blocker's helmet, forearm or
shoulder is to the head or
neck area" if the blocker is moving toward his own endline and he approaches the opponent from behind or the side.
In simple terms, no crackback blocks to the head. Examples are receivers blocking down on linebackers and defenders blocking back on interception or fumble returns. Under this rule, it still appears that Warren Sapp's block on Chad Clifton was legal, but I'll check later with vice president of officiating Mike Pereira when he has his officiating seminar later today.
Rule Change No. 2: No more kickoff wedges.
It will be a 15-yard penalty if players intentionally form a wedge of three or more players on a kickoff return. No more than two receiving team players can join together shoulder-to-shoulder within 2 yards of each other and block for the returner.
Rule Change No. 3: Unnecessary roughness has been expanded to include shots to a defenseless receiver's head.
The amendment states, a penalty will be called "If the initial force of the contact by a defender's helmet, forearm, or shoulder is to the head or neck area of a defenseless receiver who is catching or attempting to catch a pass." This would presumably cover the hit Steelers safety Ryan Grant had on Baltimore running back Willis McGahee in the AFC Championship game.
Rule Change No. 4: No bunch formations on kickoffs.
There must be at least four players on each side of the kicker and at least three of those must be lined up between the hash mark and the out of bounds line, one of which must be outside the yard-line number.
What the rule does is prevent teams from bunching up players on onsides kicks.
Look for an update to this story later in which I"ll have remarks from Pereira.
http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/archiv...ate=03-31-2009