| 08 October 2009
Rules are made to be broken; especially ridiculous rules in football that are causing teams to be in position to lose games. There are problems in the NFL and college football. Over the last weekend we saw the whistle blown for misdemeanor calls as criminal as jaywalking turn into grand theft larceny calls based on the bylaws of each organization. The NFL's major problem is figuring out how to protect it's stars, the quarterbacks, while also keeping the game's physicality in tact. College football on the other hand has to figure out how to allow student-athletes to celebrate accomplishments without it turning into an episode of America's Best Dance Crew. Everyone knows to not fix something unless it's broken, but we may just have to keep breaking the rules to finally get them fixed.
College football has some rules people love and some rules people hate. People seem to love the overtime in college football. I get it and I don't. I understand it's entertaining to see both teams get the ball and that overtimes can go on forever, but it's really an unsatisfactory way to play overtime. The biggest disappointment with college overtime is that it takes away one-third of a team since it doesn't incorporate special teams. Everyone thinks it's all about offense and defense, but special teams comes into play more than people think. Both leagues have inferior overtimes and need to be changed to allow both teams a chance to have the ball, while also including offense, defense, and special teams. My idea is that overtimes take a little bit from both leagues. You would kick the ball off in the same fashion as NFL overtime begins and the first team that gets the ball would get the opportunity to drive the field. If they drive the field and score any points then they would kick off and the opposing team would get one drive to tie or beat the opposing team. If the score is tied after each team has had a possession then the game would turn to sudden death and the first team that scores wins. This would provide extra strategy on the coin toss because if you choose to defer then you would get the opportunity to try and stop the first team on offense, get the ball, and score for the win. If the other team scores, then you have the chance to drive the field to tie or beat the first team's score. On the other side if you choose to receive first then you would have the opportunity to score first. If you would like to punt on 4th down to play field position you could. If you are tied after each team has possessed the ball then you would receive the next kickoff and have the first opportunity to score in sudden death. The strategy is pretty equal for pros and cons and allows much more intrigue and excitement then what is part of today's overtimes. I'm just tired of college football overtimes being finished after the first team has a turnover and then the next team only has to kick a field goal that it's already in range for.
The one rule that we saw last weekend in college football during the Georgia/LSU game that may have changed the outcome of the game is the excessive celebration penalty. I don't know how to rule turned into you can't high-five after a touchdown, but it basically has. If you point to God, throw the flag; If you jump and cheer with teammates, throw the flag; and if you toss the ball in any direction, throw the flag. People are going to be excited towards the end of the game when someone scores and I see nothing wrong with celebrating as long as it doesn't turn into taunting or a preconceived celebration. Let the players celebrate as long as it's tasteful and stop throwing the flag, it's a little overboard. The other rule that we saw over the weekend was the NFL's rules for protecting the quarterback. It was blatantly obvious during the Pats/Ravens games that the refs were protecting Mrs. Brady. Not only were the refs protecting him, but he had the audacity to tuck his balls between his legs and start pointing when a defender came near the vicinity of him. Of course the refs threw the flags, the game changed, and the Pats got the win. This is such a simple rule to change. Get rid of the extra hands to the face penalty and diving towards the legs and just keep the roughing the passer penalty. Let it be up to the discretion of the referee if the penalty is deemed to fit the crime instead of the yellow underwear flying out of the ref's briefs anytime a defenders' hand scrapes a quarterback's nostrils. Most rules that are put in place in both leagues improve the game play, but all of these rules make the game inferior and help to cause outcomes that should typically be decided on the field, not by a penalty flag.
