All the NFL owners meet last week to discuss 11 new proposed rule changes. There were many different proposed changes but the main proposals that have a chance of success were expanding jersey numbers for certain skill positions, various overtime rule changes, and the addition of an eighth official. For any of these proposals to be officially approved, they need 75% (24) of the owners votes. NFL teams and the Competition Committee submit proposals every offseason to try and better the league, with all proposals voted on in the upcoming owners meeting.
The spotlight right now is on Kansas City who proposed to amend Rule 5, Section 1, Article 2, to expand jersey number options for certain positions. This would allow a majority of skill players to take a single digit number like they did in college. For example, Alvin Kamara could revert back to his college number 6. It would allow any QB, RB, WR, TE, DB and LB to choose a number between 1-49. We could see many stars change number this season if this rule gets its 24 required votes.
The NFL is expected to pass a rule that will relax jersey number restrictions, per @peter_king
— B/R Gridiron (@brgridiron) April 8, 2021
— QB: 1-19
— WR: 1-49, 80-89
— RB: 1-49, 80-89
— TE: 1-49, 80-89
— DB: 1-49
— LB: 1-59, 90-99
— OL: 50-79
— DL: 50-79, 90-99
These would be cold ‼️
(1/3) pic.twitter.com/i2ZpdzV2nd
@A_kamara6 pic.twitter.com/rmkEeamK5m
— Brenden Ertle (@BrendenErtle) April 8, 2021
The full list of the 11 proposed rule changes that will be voted on in the upcoming owners meeting are:
- To eliminate overtime in the preseason.
- For one year only, to establish a maximum number of players in the setup zone.
- To expand the prohibition on blocking below the waist by offensive and defensive players on scrimmage downs when contact occurs beyond five yards on either side of the line of scrimmage and more than two yards outside of either offensive tackle.
- To permit the Replay Official and designated members of the Officiating department to provide certain objective information to the on-field officials.
- To ensure the enforcement of all accepted penalties committed by either team during successive Try attempts.
- To add a loss of down for a second forward pass from behind the line and for a pass thrown after the ball returns behind the line.
- To expand jersey number options for certain positions.
- To change the options for winner of an overtime coin toss, and create a true sudden death format.
- To change the options for winner of an overtime coin toss, eliminate sudden death format, and eliminate overtime in the preseason.
- To permit a team to maintain possession of the ball after a score by substituting one offensive play (4th and 15 from the kicking team’s 25-yard line) for an onside kickoff attempt.
- To add an eighth official who is positioned somewhere other than the playing field, with full communication to on-field officials and access to a television monitor.
We will see which rules are passed and which are declined in the coming weeks, but all indications tell that we could see star players in different uniforms coming soon! Get ready to start buying jerseys!
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