Proposed changes sure to rule the day

By Mike Reiss, Globe Staff  |  March 30, 2008

The NFL's annual meeting takes place over the next four days in Palm Beach, Fla., a time in which most of the league's heavy hitters are gathered in the same place - from owners, to general managers, to head coaches.

In essence, it's the annual State of the NFL convention with pressing business matters discussed.

Rules changes often generate significant buzz, and to help navigate through eight significant proposals owners will be voting on this year, we've assembled a roundtable of varied perspectives.

Chad Brown, a 15-year NFL veteran, has the players' take, while Jim Tunney, a longtime official, brings an in-depth understanding of the rules. Dan Reeves looks through the coaching lens, while former Titans general manager Floyd Reese talks from the personnel side. And what's a roundtable without a kicker? Welcome, Adam Vinatieri.

1. Allowing a defensive player to have a communication device in his helmet. The resolution has been shot down the last two years, earning 18 votes in 2006 and 22 last year. Some believe the incident with the Patriots' videotaping procedures will push the proposal over the top this year (24 of 32 votes are needed). The significant change in this year's proposal is that a second defender will have use of a communication device if the other defender with a device is out of the game. Only one defender with a communication device is allowed on the field at a time.

REEVES: "I'm for it, and always have been. I always felt the defense should have the same advantage that the offense does. The big argument against it is that there is more substitution on defense. On offense, the quarterback is always the guy that you have communication with. But on defense, let's say it's your middle linebacker. What if he's not on the field in a nickel or dime package? Then an offense can go hurry-up. Still, I think they can work it out and this one will pass."

2. Allowing instant replay for most field goals.

Browns kicker Phil Dawson had a field goal go over the crossbar last season, but it hit the extension on the other side, bounced back into the field of play, and was ruled no good. The play was not reviewable under instant replay, although officials stalled enough to have a discussion (wink, wink) and ultimately reversed their decision. That play would now be reviewable, as would kicks in which it is difficult to determine if the ball went inside the upright. The only kicks that would not be reviewable are those that go over the uprights.

VINATIERI: "The way I look at it is that if you want to do instant replay on field goals, that's great, as long as it allows you to make the correct call. The one thing I'd say is that the calls that seem easier to make are the ones that are either over the crossbar or inside the upright, so I don't see this changing a lot. I do think instant replay could really help on the over-the-top [of the upright kicks], which is the grayest area of all and is a judgment call. But that would require putting cameras on both of the uprights."

3. Eliminating the 5-yard penalty for making contact and grasping an opponent's facemask. The league's competition committee feels the NFL can still promote the safety of the facemask rule, while noting that college football is also changing its facemask rule this year. The only facemask penalty in the NFL would then be a 15-yard infraction for twisting, turning, or pulling the facemask.

TUNNEY: "I'd be in favor of saying any time you touch the mask, no matter what you do, it's 15 yards. If they're going to eliminate the 5-yard penalty for just touching the facemask, I think that puts another judgment back on the officials. Did he just touch it or grab it?"

4. Creating a "dead period" in the days before free agency begins in which teams can speak with certified agents about their clients.

This proposal is not ready to be voted on at the meeting, but it will generate discussion and could lead to a vote at the May owners' meeting. The thinking is that a "dead period" would eliminate the desire to tamper because every club would have a legal window, before free agency, in which it could speak with agents.

REESE: "It's a solution to a problem they know exists. If people want to believe the first contact anyone made is at 12:01 [when free agency begins], that doesn't happen. I always thought the most difficult part, when you're talking to an agent who has one of your players and you're working out a deal, he might have one of the top players out there and that kid's name pops up. It's hard not to say, 'What's he doing? What's the deal?' If they wanted to [pass this proposal], the problem with the NFL and all major pro sports is that if you put seven days [of a dead period], people will start calling two weeks in advance. There is always someone out there trying to get a jump."

5. Hair that covers the player's name or number on the back of his jersey will not be permitted.

Two years ago, Chiefs running back Larry Johnson tackled Steelers safety Troy Polamalu by his hair, and was penalized. This proposal was written by the Chiefs.

BROWN: "My first thought is why? I haven't heard any arguments as to why this should be done. Having been a guy who has had long hair and no hair, this doesn't make a lot of sense to me. As a union rep when I played with the Seahawks, I know there is something in the collective bargaining agreement that hair rules are not allowed to be enforced, so I don't know if it will get much traction. There is some thinking that if you allow hair [restrictions], what next? I know the NBA has made a pitch to clean up its image; is this is a similar thing? It's just guesses right now, because there are no answers out there."

6. Adopting the college rule for the opening coin toss, so the winning team can defer and receive the ball at the start of the second half. The current rule states that the team winning the toss cannot defer.

REEVES: "I actually proposed it about 10 years ago and, if I recall, it was unanimously voted down. So I don't think it will pass. My thought was that there were times it would be nice to have the choice at halftime. Sometimes you're sitting there hoping you don't win the toss at the start of the game. When I was in New York, my first year, the wind was such a huge factor that year that there were times I would have taken the wind and defended a goal to start the game."

7. Eliminating the force-out call by officials. The force-out is when officials allow a catch if a player is deemed to have been forced out of bounds without the chance to get two feet down in the field of play.

Rich McKay, cochair of the competition committee, estimated that there were 15 force-out calls in 2007. The feeling is that there are so many levels of judgment that go into the force-out call that it's best to eliminate it. If a receiver does not get two feet down in the field of play, the only call an official could make to grant a catch is if the player is "held up and carried" out of bounds.

TUNNEY: "This will make it easier on officials - any time you can eliminate judgment calls, that's good - but my concern is if it takes an advantage away from a receiver who made a good play. This is an area in which the game has changed. You used to have players like Ray Berry and Boyd Dowler who didn't do catching on the sidelines, they were over the middle. Now, defensive guys are much faster so offensive guys are playing to the sideline, where only the receiver can get it. My question would be: Does this hurt the receiver's ability to make plays?"

8. Reseeding for the playoffs within each conference. As has always been the case, division winners will clinch playoff berths. The division winners with the best records would still get the top two seeds, while the remaining four teams would be seeded by record. That would make it possible that a division winner goes on the road in the wild-card round of the playoffs. In the current format, division winners are ensured a home game.

REEVES: "I definitely think it has some merit because it keeps people playing at the end of the season, rather than resting people. I look at it from the fans' standpoint; you want to make sure they're getting something for their money, and not going to a game where a coach is resting his team. I'd think that has a good chance of passing."

Richard got to see more

For some players, traveling to Israel with the person who signs your paycheck might have been awkward, but Richard Seymour said his trip there earlier this month with Patriots owner Robert Kraft was anything but.

"I think we have a pretty special relationship," Seymour said. "He's a charismatic guy and I'll never forget when he came down [to South Carolina] when my dad passed away. You always develop a bond, and over the last eight years, I think we've developed a relationship. I talk with him and get a lot of advice on a lot on different issues. He may ask me something about football, and that may be the only advice I can give him, but it's cool."

Seymour was accompanied on the trip by his wife, Tanya. Patriots tight end Benjamin Watson and his wife, Kirsten, were also part of the traveling party. Quarterback Tom Brady previously made the trip.

For Seymour, the experience was emotionally and spiritually fulfilling. A highlight came when he was baptized in the Jordan River.

"I've been reading the Bible for a while now, but to actually go over and see a lot of the sites that they talk about in the Bible, it really came to life," he said. "Mr. Kraft had a personal tour guide for us, someone who knew a lot about the history, so it was great to hear his perspective on a lot of things and also to see it for yourself and be at places where Jesus walked, where he was crucified and carried the cross. You see so many different religions over there. It was just oozing with historical meaning."

Fair to say, subject will be discussed

Expect to hear the words "integrity of the game" and "fair competition" a few times over the next four days at the NFL's annual meeting. Owners will be briefed on some changes commissioner Roger Goodell plans to enact on his own, and they will have other issues presented to them for consideration. Some of the topics:

Owners, general managers, presidents, and head coaches will be responsible for annually certifying compliance with the rules and policies. The NFL's thinking, similar to an annual audit, is that it will help with accountability.

Individual teams and the NFL will be responsible for having a whistleblower mechanism in place where those who have information can communicate it under strict confidentiality.

The NFL is also looking at the standard of proof for determining a violation, and would like it to be in line with preponderance of evidence, rather than proof beyond a reasonable doubt. In other words, the standard would be lowered.

The league is also looking at increasing the level in which it monitors and enforces rules violations, which could lead to more aggressive and frequent spot-checks.

"We are determined to make sure our game is clean and competitively fair," said NFL executive vice president of operations Ray Anderson. "The main thing is accountability from top to bottom in protecting integrity and maintaining the confidence among our fans. That's what we're looking to do in terms of integrity and fair competition moving forward."

Etc.

Knowing your surroundings
When Seahawks cornerback Marcus Trufant signed a six-year extension last week with approximately $20 million in bonuses and guarantees, some suggested he took the hometown discount. But it turns out there was a good reason Trufant decided to stay in Seattle. Because Washington has no state income tax, Trufant will actually net more in the first three years of his contract than recent big-bucks cornerback signees Nate Clements and DeAngelo Hall, who are playing in California. There is also no state income tax in Florida, which is why the first move of the player who is selected No. 1 by the Dolphins will be to establish permanent residency, so that his approximate $30 million in bonuses/guarantees isn't subject to state income tax.

They had a good time
After reviewing the 2007 season, one area that pleased the NFL's competition committee was the length of games. The average time for games last season was 3 hours 2 minutes 59 seconds, which cochairman Rich McKay said was "a very low level over the last 10 years and especially a low level" since instant replay was reinstituted.

Much ado about nothing
Remember all the hubbub last season when coaches were calling last-second timeouts before field goals? At the time, there was speculation that the league might consider a rule change that would prohibit such timeouts. But as it turned out, the issue was a non-starter with the competition committee and won't even be put to a vote.

Extra points
As of last week, 31 of the NFL's 32 coaches (all except the Seahawks' Mike Holmgren) were scheduled to be at the league meetings, including the Patriots' Bill Belichick, who was not there last year. Coaches will take part in one-hour breakfasts with media members on Tuesday (AFC) and Wednesday (NFC) . . . The league is expected to announce the nationally televised games for Kickoff Weekend tomorrow . . . Compensatory draft choices, which are awarded to teams that lose more compensatory free agents than they sign the previous year, will be awarded at the meeting . . . As part of the agenda in Palm Beach, Fla., there will be a presentation, review, and discussion of the collective bargaining agreement, one of the looming issues ahead as owners are expected to opt out in November . . . Owners will also consider expanding roster size, as there are a variety of proposals. One possibility is to expand beyond 80 players for training camp . . . Teams averaged 428 passing yards per game during the 2007 season, the second-highest mark in league history. There were an average of 4.85 touchdowns per game. Penalties per game were down to 13.45.

Did you know?
The average points scored per game during the 2007 season was 43.4, the highest total since 1983.

Mike Reiss can be reached at mreiss@globe.com.