Leap and a Flag Will Appear: NFL Bans Leaping to Block FGs and PATs

HowBoutDemSox

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http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/19021659/nfl-expected-pass-rule-prohibiting-leaper-block-attempts-field-goals-extra-point-attempts

NFL owners passed a rule on Tuesday that prohibits players from leaping over linemen to try to block field goal and extra-point attempts.

Sources told ESPN's Adam Schefter that the league feels the play is too dangerous and a player could get flipped over and seriously injured while leaping over the line.

The rule change was sparked by a proposal from the Philadelphia Eagles and was backed by the NFL Players Association.
 

scottyno

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Considering on the biggest stage with the best refs and millions of people watching the refs got the rule wrong they might as well just get rid of it
 

BigJimEd

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Just in general. Seemed to becoming too commonplace.

I don't think the league liked it. Hard to defend plus the fact the Refs screwed it up enough. NFL doesn't like change.

I know in the group that of occasionally watch games with we all felt it was likely to be gone after the season
 

Van Everyman

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Bruce Arians is, apparently, very worried about people getting injured on this play. For some reason of which I am unaware. Has anyone actually been injured on this play before?
 

NortheasternPJ

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Just in general. Seemed to becoming too commonplace.

I don't think the league liked it. Hard to defend plus the fact the Refs screwed it up enough. NFL doesn't like change.

I know in the group that of occasionally watch games with we all felt it was likely to be gone after the season
Thank god they got rid of this. I really hate watching exciting plays in the game, just like I am offended by players having fun in celebrations.

Need more standard conformist stuff and restrict teams from doing things that are interesting / entertaining.
 

edmunddantes

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Bruce Arians is, apparently, very worried about people getting injured on this play. For some reason of which I am unaware. Has anyone actually been injured on this play before?
Yet it will continue to be legal to hurdle over defenders trying to tackle you even though the stated cause of player safety cited for banning the field goal leap would also result from that play.
 

Harry Hooper

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I would think the more logical injury concern would be the long snapper getting hurt by a poor jump. Losing your long snapper for the rest of a game is not something any team wants to go through, whether it gets flagged for a penalty or not.
 

djbayko

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Putting aside for a second the fact that the league always bans any play that the Patriots take advantage of, even if they didn't invent it...

It really seems like the NFL aid against any -play innovation that's outside the norm and adds a new layer of unpredictability and excitement to the game. No Fun League indeed.

I changed play to innovation because trick plays are fine as long as they've been in the public domain for decades.
 

djbayko

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Was this play pulled on the Eagles in a big spot any time these past couple of years, or are they doing one of their buddies a solid with this proposal?
 

dbn

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I'm glad they are banning it, from a cynical viewpoint. The league wasn't going to figure out a way to call it correctly, so just spare us the torture of them screwing it up over and over so go ahead and put another exciting play out of its misery.
 

Curt S Loew

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Was this play pulled on the Eagles in a big spot any time these past couple of years, or are they doing one of their buddies a solid with this proposal?
I don't recall them being directly affected. They did have four rules change requests for some reason. That's a lot. They dropped all requests but the leap.
 

Bowhemian

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I would think the more logical injury concern would be the long snapper getting hurt by a poor jump. Losing your long snapper for the rest of a game is not something any team wants to go through, whether it gets flagged for a penalty or not.
How many times has the long snapper been injured by a jumping player? I agree that losing the long snapper during a game would suck for some teams. However, most teams have another player that has practiced it and can sub in-heck even the high school team I used to coach had 3 kids that could long snap. But I think that they would be more likely to be injured by a kicker drilling a kicked football up their ass, than by some guys foot scraping the back of their jersey on their way over the top.

I think that this is one of the many cases where the rule should have been clarified rather than to eliminate the play altogether.
 

dcdrew10

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Fishercat

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As entertaining as it is it appeared to be hard to referee and the danger seems pretty easy to find. It's easier to "fix" something like this than, well, all of the other things in this thread. Not too surprising. (I suppose except the headhunting but it'll just take one borderline call taking TJ Ward out of a game before the vultures descend on that).

Of course, I'm kind of surprised that there hasn't been some countermeasure for it, all it takes is the center to rise up a bit early and potentially flip the guy and get a penalty.
 

PayrodsFirstClutchHit

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I had read that rule 15 was intended to prevent intentionally holding at the end of the game trying to run out the clock. The Ravens play from last season where they all held on 4th down to allow the punter to run out the clock.
 

bradmahn

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Owners rejected a proposal by the Washington Redskins to place touchbacks at the 20-yard line if the ball went through the uprights after kickoffs. Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin, a member of the competition committee, said he thought the idea was "gimmicky."
I was pulling for this change and I am disappointed that, at least in one article, Mike Tomlin has the last word on the matter and that word is "gimmicky".

That 49ers/Ravens penalty on multiple intentional fouls to manipulate the game clock is prime for refereeing intent. Hope we're all excited.
 

Captaincoop

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The rule allowing ejections for egregious hits to the head is long overdue. The current rules reward headhunting in an era where the concussion protocols make it very easy to knock someone out of the game.
 

Papelbon's Poutine

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I was pulling for this change and I am disappointed that, at least in one article, Mike Tomlin has the last word on the matter and that word is "gimmicky".
It is "gimmicky" and I'm glad it got voted down. That's a distinct advantage to teams playing at altitude (read Broncos) or playing in a dome. Plus, it's just dumb. Next they can propose that TDs count for more points based on how long the scoring play was.
 

Rheal With Cheese

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Does anyone know if Shea McClellin's leap/block against J Tucker and the Ravens on the 12.5.2016 Monday night game will go down as the last successful one ever? Or were there any in the last 4 weeks of the reg season?

I don't remember any in the playoffs other than the one they miscalled in the SB, and I believe that Seahawks/Cardinals 6-6 Ot thriller was in October.

If anyone can save me from going thru 60 plus game logs that would be great. I kind of want the block on Tucker to be the last one.
 

Saints Rest

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Does anyone know if Shea McClellin's leap/block against J Tucker and the Ravens on the 12.5.2016 Monday night game will go down as the last successful one ever? Or were there any in the last 4 weeks of the reg season?

I don't remember any in the playoffs other than the one they miscalled in the SB, and I believe that Seahawks/Cardinals 6-6 Ot thriller was in October.

If anyone can save me from going thru 60 plus game logs that would be great. I kind of want the block on Tucker to be the last one.
IIRC, there was a game-turning one in Week 16 or 17. I want to say it involved the Broncos and maybe the Saints. Team A was lining up to kick a PAT to tie or win the game with almost no time left on the clock. Team B does the leap and block thing, leading to a return of the block for 2 points the other way, giving Team B the victory.

EDIT: Upon further review, it was Saints/Broncos, but it was Week 10.
 
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Lose Remerswaal

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It is "gimmicky" and I'm glad it got voted down. That's a distinct advantage to teams playing at altitude (read Broncos) or playing in a dome. Plus, it's just dumb. Next they can propose that TDs count for more points based on how long the scoring play was.
Any idea how much advantage? And what's the dome advantage?
 

Papelbon's Poutine

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Any idea how much advantage? And what's the dome advantage?
No idea and I don't need some kind of number to assess it. It's an advantage to play eight homes games where it's easier to exploit a rule than your competitors have in their other games. Same thing with a dome where there's no wind.

Yes, in an individual game the teams are playing under the same conditions, but that doesn't mean that it equals out over the season. In addition, if you play in a particularly windy stadium, let's say Pittsburgh, are you going to spend much time having your kicker focus on it? Most likely not, but if you're Denver or Indy, sure. Otherwise you just kind of hope the guy can do it and then, yeah, it's a gimmick and it's a joke. When the Pats play in Mexico next year, let's say they nail this kick and it costs the Raiders 5 yards that ultimately lead to them losing. But if they played at Oakland, it wouldn't happen. Is that a good rule change?

Let's say that MLB put in a rule that said if you hit the ball out of the ballpark - as opposed to just over the fence - it counts as two runs. Would the Sox not have an advantage?
 

Lose Remerswaal

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Ahh, I thought you meant an advantage on the play (leap) in question, not in general. On that I agree about the elevation help, but I think non-dome teams are better off than dome teams for when they play in the other conditions (non-dome going to a dome as opposed to a dome team having to play outside)
 

Spelunker

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Ahh, I thought you meant an advantage on the play (leap) in question, not in general. On that I agree about the elevation help, but I think non-dome teams are better off than dome teams for when they play in the other conditions (non-dome going to a dome as opposed to a dome team having to play outside)
I think he means the kick-it-throught-the-uprights-on-kickoffs field position proposal.
 

richgedman'sghost

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Win, you and Papelbon are talking past one another. PP was referring to the proposed rule change regarding the ball being kicked through the uprights
 

bradmahn

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The whole damn sport is arbitrary and has never been about maintaining absolute equal advantages to all teams regardless of location. Domes and fair weather locales already confer advantages on field goals, punting, the passing game, and kickoffs as presently construed. The forward pass, two point conversion, substitutions, overtime, and many more innovations started as "gimmicks". Even your point about TDs and distance has an equivalent in the NFL today--when a pick six is only worth two points. It's inconsistent to act as if these facts applied to this proposal disqualify a change that would increase the importance of a good kicker with long distance range.

I mean, why aren't we railing against the fair catch free kick or demanding the NFL become the arena league?