The Official NFL Rulebook

[Boone]

Access the Official NFL Rulebook here

Download the Official NFL Rulebook (pdf) here

 

[Neophyte]

Ah...feeling masochistic today, I see.

A little lite reading, John?

 

[Commander PK]

Maybe it’s because I’m mourning what was an absolute shit show of a season for us right now, but I am growing increasingly frustrated as a fan of the game over the amount of discretion NFL referees have in calling penalties. They say holding happens on every play but they only call it when they feel it should be called. If that is truly the case then what good is the rule?

Put simply, a system that allows discretion will naturally preserve outcomes that are more valuable to the league, even if no one intends that result. The league cannot simultaneously insist discretion doesn’t matter, but insist on keeping it because of what happens when it’s removed. A holding with two seconds left in the game that decides an outcome should be called the same as it would be with 12:54 to go in the 3rd quarter…and that is just an example.

 

[Boone]

I hear you brother. However, it is not always black and white. One ref's 'hold' is another ref's 'borderline hold'. That's just the nature of sports. There is no 'strike zone' in baseball. There is an imaginary strike zone. Different refs see different things.

I think in some ways, the NFL in attempting to make every rule completely objective, has made it worse. Because it's not an objective game. A player making a 'catch' is in constant motion. There is no humanly definable exact moment where a catch is, or isn't made. No matter how detailed rules definitions are, in real-time, it can be incredibly difficult to make the distinction of a catch vs. a non-catch and be 100% accurate.

I sort of long for the days where all calls were up to the officials on the field. No replays. No video or AI assistance. Just live with the pros and cons of a fallible human referee with the understanding that in the end, it probably all evens out over the years.

 

[Commander PK]

I think for me the problem is the rules are too vague and allow for that kind of ref discretion. “Holding” or “borderline holding.” The bottom line for me is a violation is either real or it isn’t. Timing cannot change that fact. If timing affects enforcement, the system is unfair. “We let them play” admits this openly. The referee becomes a gatekeeper not an enforcer.

The moment the league accepts that when a flag is thrown matters, it has already accepted that rules alone do not decide games people do. No fair competition can cross that line without losing some legitimacy.

 

[Commander PK]

Yes I know I’m salty, lol, but throw the explosion of gambling into the mix now also…and I’m just feeling more and more that our emotional investment into something we can’t truly trust is…well.

Color me cynical

Right now, fans are asked to trust that discretion doesn’t matter, except when it does…but not in a way that affects outcomes…even though outcomes visibly change. A no-call when “they let them play” has just as much or more impact as a call that’s made.

 

[SkinsNumberOne]

Yes I know I’m salty, lol, but throw the explosion of gambling into the mix now also…and I’m just feeling more and more that our emotional investment into something we can’t truly trust is…well.

Color me cynical

Right now, fans are asked to trust that discretion doesn’t matter, except when it does…but not in a way that affects outcomes…even though outcomes visibly change. A no-call when “they let them play” has just as much or more impact as a call that’s made.

There were some crazy DPIs and non-DPIs called recently, I thought. I think in the same game, I was saying to people "oh they didn't call that because of the stakes" and then "I guess that one was too egregious" - I think it was Broncos/Bills. Everyone knows it affects the outcomes. Probably the best way to balance the appearance of favoritism is with some kind of oversight, but we have seen in the NHL (and even with Runyan's position in the NFL at times)... none of it works. We still feel like we see bias.

I know I do.

Anyway, in 2035, when we are watching Robo-football with Robo-refs... maybe then we will be bias free?

 

[Chris]

I doesn’t help that ‘reviews’ are being conducted without transparency in some smoke-filled room in NY.

 

[Chris]

Anyway, in 2035, when we are watching Robo-football with Robo-refs... maybe then we will be bias free?

Depends on who is programming the robots. 😉

 

[Darrell Green Fan]

2 suggestions I have always thought made sense:

1. We all know a delay of game penalty is always a second late, the ball is snapped after 00:00 all the time because the ref that calls it has to look down the line as well as in the end zone where the play clock is. That is physically impossible so delays are constantly missed. Why not put a light or clock on the other sideline at the LOS so the ref can see exactly when the clock expired?

2. This one is more controversial, the first one to me is a no-brainer. We've all seen a big play, say a long pass for a td , where you hear "there's a penalty flag" as the guy is at the 40. Nobody can enjoy the play, we are all on pause for 30 seconds until we learn who the flag is on. Why not have additional flags? The ref throws the yellow flag to indicate a penalty, then he throws a white flag if it's on the offense or a red flag for the defense. Would you rather hear "there's a penalty flag" and have to wait 30 seconds? Or would you rather hear "there's a penalty flag.....but it's on the defense" before the player reaches the 20?

 

[Primus Porcus]

2 suggestions I have always thought made sense:

1. We all know a delay of game penalty is always a second late, the ball is snapped after 00:00 all the time because the ref that calls it has to look down the line as well as in the end zone where the play clock is. That is physically impossible so delays are constantly missed. Why not put a light or clock on the other sideline at the LOS so the ref can see exactly when the clock expired?

2. This one is more controversial, the first one to me is a no-brainer. We've all seen a big play, say a long pass for a td , where you hear "there's a penalty flag" as the guy is at the 40. Nobody can enjoy the play, we are all on pause for 30 seconds until we learn who the flag is on. Why not have additional flags? The ref throws the yellow flag to indicate a penalty, then he throws a white flag if it's on the offense or a red flag for the defense. Would you rather hear "there's a penalty flag" and have to wait 30 seconds? Or would you rather hear "there's a penalty flag.....but it's on the defense" before the player reaches the 20?

I'm with you, with a couple tweeks

USFL has an earpiece. It could be very easy for them to sync up a 'buzzer' or something within the earpiece of the official that would 'beep' when it hit '0' so they would not have to be looking at two places at once.

An even easier solution is to make it a challengeable play. My suggestion with THAT would be that the Refs don't change the way they do it now, but let the defense be able to challenge in the event that the play started late. Definitely lean toward NOT flagging it and letting replay get it right, because the challenge could only work one way... for the defense. If a play is flagged as a Delay of Game, the Offense wouldn't be able to challenge because the play would be whistled dead.



I love the second one. My only concern is if one of these gump officials threw the wrong one, which caused players to 'stop' in the course of the play because they're believing it's on the other team and the play will come back, only to find out the Ref messed up and threw the wrong designation flag.

 

[Darrell Green Fan]

I'm with you, with a couple tweeks

USFL has an earpiece. It could be very easy for them to sync up a 'buzzer' or something within the earpiece of the official that would 'beep' when it hit '0' so they would not have to be looking at two places at once.

An even easier solution is to make it a challengeable play. My suggestion with THAT would be that the Refs don't change the way they do it now, but let the defense be able to challenge in the event that the play started late. Definitely lean toward NOT flagging it and letting replay get it right, because the challenge could only work one way... for the defense. If a play is flagged as a Delay of Game, the Offense wouldn't be able to challenge because the play would be whistled dead.



I love the second one. My only concern is if one of these gump officials threw the wrong one, which caused players to 'stop' in the course of the play because they're believing it's on the other team and the play will come back, only to find out the Ref messed up and threw the wrong designation flag.

I don't think your concern will come into play. By the time the official pulls the 2nd flag the players involved are either in the end zone or 10 yards behind the play. I like the buzzer idea for the play clock, we don't need any more reviews.