The National Football League has published their updated set of rules for the upcoming season and, as usual, there were several additions and amendments that will probably ever so slightly affect play and make you scream angrily at your television every weekend.
Here are some highlights, courtesy of Pro Football Talk:
1. It is now a delay of game penalty if a team is erroneously granted a timeout.
2. The offensive and defensive play callers can use the coach-to-helmet communications system regardless of whether the coach is in the booth or on the sideline.
3. There is no longer a five-yard penalty for illegally touching a pass after being out of bounds and then re-establishing inbounds, but it is a loss of down.
4. The line of scrimmage for extra point kicks is permanently the 15-yard line.
5. Touchbacks on kickoffs are now moved to the 25-yard line.
6. All chop blocks are illegal.
7. The horse-collar tackle rule now includes a defender grabbing the jersey at the name plate or above.
8. A player who gets two fouls for certain kinds of unsportsmanlike conduct is automatically ejected.
9. Multiple spots of enforcement for a double foul after a change of possession have been eliminated.
But the burning question that people are probably most interested in lies in whether or not the league has attempted to clarify the definition of a catch. After all, the “what is a catch?” debate comes up basically every week during the season and absolutely nobody seems to have a consistent or simple answer, including the NFL’s referees.
Well, you’ll be very excited to hear that, in all likelihood, that trend will continue next season!
Keep this passage handy from the 2016 NFL rule book. It's the updated version of the… https://t.co/X1N6ZMpXtK pic.twitter.com/K2HTALwVsh
— Kevin Seifert (@SeifertESPN) July 7, 2016
Not only did the NFL fail to make the catch ruling more black and white, they went ahead and added more gray area that will inevitably lead to insufferable and mind-numbing analysis during football season. The new language added in seemingly opens the door only to create additional opportunities for nitpicking and ambiguity.
Get ready for another fun season, friends.
(Via Deadspin)