Rule changes have been made throughout the history of the NFL to improve the game, make it more exciting and reduce the risk of injury. Safety rules are one of the most important and effective ways in which the NFL and its owners can help protect the
health of players. By helping to identify, promote and enforce safe on-field conduct (in concert with off-the-field education and
policies), the league seeks to preserve both the health of players and the integrity of the game.

The NFL has established a strong set of rules through the years focused on player safety, designed to promote fair competition
while attempting to minimize risk of harm to the player. While many of these rules have focused on reducing contact to the head and neck of players, other changes have protected players from orthopedic and other injuries.

The development of a thoughtful and comprehensive set of appropriately protective rules and policies has always been, and
continues to be, an evolving process. The NFL continually evaluates how rules can best be integrated into the game to address
safety and health issues.

Each year the NFL Competition Committee conducts a complete review of player injuries and discusses means by which the NFL
can reduce them through the implementation of new rules, or by clarifying or strengthening enforcement of existing rules.

Rules the league has established or changed for the protection of players have not only had a positive impact in the NFL, but have subsequently been incorporated at other levels of play, including collegiate, high school and youth programs. Through the NFL’s ongoing partnerships and educational initiatives, the awareness of the importance of rules related to on-field conduct and returnto- play, at all levels and ages, is broadened.

To view an interactive timeline of the evolution of rules of the sport, visit www.NFL.com/Evolution.

The following provides a brief overview of NFL rule changes focused on protecting player health and safety over the past 30
years:

1982
Hip pads must be covered by the outer uniform.
It is illegal for any player to use the crown or top of his helmet against a passer, a receiver in the act of catching a pass, or a
runner who is in the grasp of a tackler.

1983
All mandatory player equipment must be designed and made by a professional manufacturer and cannot be altered, except by
direction of the team physician.
A player who uses a helmet he is not wearing as a weapon shall be ejected.
The chop block rule applies to blocks at “thigh or lower.”

1985
During the last two minutes of a half, the play ends when a quarterback kneels or simulates kneeling on the ground.
The ball is dead when any runner slides to the ground feet first, thereby declaring himself down.

1986
Blocking below the waist on punts is prohibited during the entire down.
The “lure” technique is prohibited. When a tackle shows pass set, a teammate lined up outside him cannot chop a defender who is lined up over the tackle, even if the tackle and defender are not engaged (a “lure”).

1987
An offensive lineman may not clip a defender who, at the snap, is aligned on the line of scrimmage opposite another offensive
lineman who is more than one position away, when the defender is responding to the flow of the ball away from the blocker.
Example: A tackle cannot clip the nose tackle on a sweep to the opposite side.
It is illegal for the kicking team to block below the waist after a free kick or punt has been made. (Low blocks by the receiving team became illegal in 1979).
Both teams are prohibited from blocking below the waist after a change of possession.

1989
A defender (approaching from any direction) who has an unrestricted path to the quarterback is prohibited from flagrantly hitting him in the area of the knee(s).

1990
A player who butts, spears, or rams an opponent may be disqualified if the action is flagrant or vicious.

1991
Officials will whistle the play dead whenever a defensive lineman clearly penetrates beyond the neutral zone before the ball is
snapped and continues unabated toward the quarterback.

1992
For the first time, the chop block is illegal on some running plays: It is illegal on a running play for an offensive player who is lined up in the backfield at the snap to deliberately block a defensive player in the thigh or lower (chop) if the defensive player is
engaged by an offensive player who was on the line of scrimmage at the snap. This action is prohibited whether on or behind the line of scrimmage in an area that extends laterally to the position originally occupied by the tight end on either side.
When a defensive player runs forward and leaps in an attempt to block an extra point or field goal, it is a foul only if the leaping
player lands on other players.

1993
It is not intentional grounding when a passer, while out of the pocket and facing an imminent loss of yardage, throws a pass that lands beyond the line of scrimmage, even if no offensive player has a realistic chance to catch the ball (including if the ball lands out of bounds over the sideline or end line).

1994
Defensive players are prohibited from blocking low during a punt, field goal, or extra point attempt (kick), except those defensive players at the snap that are lined up on or inside the normal tight end position. Previously, all players on the defensive team could block low during the field goal or extra point attempt.

1995
Protection for defenseless players is clarified and expanded. Since 1982, a defensive player was prohibited from using the crown or top of his helmet against a passer, a receiver in the act of catching a pass, or a runner who is in the grasp of a tackler.

The clarification provided that:
• Defenseless players included a kickoff or punt returner attempting to field a kick in the air, and a player on the ground at the end of a play.

• Defensive players are prohibited from lowering their heads to make forcible contact with the facemask, or with the “hairline” or forehead part of the helmet, against an opponent, instead of only with the top/crown.

• Defensive players are prohibited from forcibly hitting the defenseless player’s head, neck, or face with the helmet or
facemask.

• Defensive players are prohibited from launching into a defenseless player in a way that causes the defensive player’s helmet or facemask to forcibly strike the defenseless player’s head, neck, or face, even if the initial contact of the defender’s helmet or facemask is lower than the defenseless player’s neck.

When tackling a passer during or just after throwing a pass, a defensive player is prohibited from unnecessarily and violently
throwing him down and landing on top of him with all or most of the defender’s weight.

1996
On running plays, a chop block is prohibited by an offensive player who is aligned more than one position away from the engaged defender when the block occurs away from the flow of the play.
A defender cannot be chopped even after he has disengaged from an offensive opponent, if he is still confronting the offensive
player.
Prohibition of the “lure” technique is applicable all along the offensive line, instead of only to a player outside a tackle.

1998
All face shields must be transparent.

1999
Blocking from behind, at, or below the knees in the clipping zone is prohibited.
After a blocking attempt in close line play, a blocker is prohibited from rolling up on the back of a defender’s legs (Unnecessary
Roughness).

2002
The chop block technique is illegal on all kicking plays.
It is illegal to hit a quarterback helmet-to-helmet any time after a change of possession.

2005
It is illegal to grab the inside collar of the shoulder pads to tackle a runner (“horse-collar tackle”).
Unnecessarily running, diving into, or throwing the body against a player who should not have reasonably anticipated such contact by an opponent is unnecessary roughness. Previously, the rule only protected a player who is out of the play.
A kicker/punter must not be unnecessarily contacted by the receiving team through the end of the play or until he assumes a
distinctly defensive position. An opponent may not unnecessarily initiate helmet-to-helmet contact to the kicker/punter during the kick or during the return.
An offensive player who is aligned in the tackle box at the snap and moves to a position outside the box is prohibited from
initiating contact on the side or below the waist of an opponent if the blocker is moving toward his own end line and approaches the opponent from behind or from the side (“peel back block”). The near shoulder of the blocker must be in front of his opponent’s body.

2006
Low hits on the quarterback are prohibited when a rushing defender has an opportunity to avoid such contact.
Blocks in the back above the waist by the kicking team while the ball is in flight during a scrimmage kick are illegal.
The definition of a “horse collar tackle” is expanded to include grabbing the inside collar of the jersey.
During a field-goal attempt or a try, a defensive player who is within one yard of the line of scrimmage at the snap must have his helmet outside the snapper’s shoulder pad.
Personal or unsportsmanlike conduct fouls that occur during halftime or during intermission between the fourth period and an
overtime period will be penalized on the ensuing kickoff.
During a free kick, at least four kicking team players must be on each side of the kicker when the ball is kicked.

2007
A block below the waist against an eligible receiver while the quarterback is in the pocket is a 15-yard penalty instead of a 5-yard penalty (an illegal cut block).

2009
Teams are not permitted to intentionally form a wedge of more than two players on a kickoff return in an attempt to block for the runner.
The “bunch” formation on kickoffs is eliminated. The kickoff team must have at least three players outside each hash mark, one of whom must be outside the yard-line number.
It is an illegal “blindside” block if the blocker is moving toward his own endline and approaches the opponent from behind or from the side, and the initial force of the contact by the blocker’s helmet, forearm, or shoulder is to the head or neck area of an
opponent.
It is an illegal hit on a defenseless receiver if the initial force of the contact by the defender’s helmet, forearm, or shoulder is to the head or neck area of the receiver.

Clarified rule regarding low hits on passers:

• A defender cannot initiate a roll or lunge and forcibly hit the passer in the knee area or below, even if he is being
contacted by another player.

• It is not a foul if the defender swipes, wraps, or grabs a passer in the knee area or below in an attempt to tackle him.

2010
During a field-goal attempt, punt, or try-kick, a defensive team player, who is within one yard of the line of scrimmage at the snap, must have his entire body outside the snapper’s shoulder pads.
After a half has expired, dead ball personal fouls by either team will be enforced on the succeeding kickoff.
A player who has just completed a catch is protected from blows to the head or neck by an opponent who launches.
All “defenseless players” are protected from blows to the head delivered by an opponent’s helmet, forearm, or shoulder.
Kickers and punters during the kick and return, and quarterbacks after a change of possession, are protected from blows to the
head delivered by an opponent’s helmet, forearm, or shoulder, instead of just helmet-to-helmet contact.
The ball is declared dead at the spot if a runner’s helmet comes completely off.

2011
The restraining line for the kicking team is moved from the 30- to the 35-yard line in an effort to increase touchbacks.
All kicking team players other than the kicker must be lined up no more than five yards behind their restraining line, eliminating the 15-20 yard running “head start” that had become customary for many players.
The list of “defenseless players” is expanded to include a kicker/punter during the kick or during the return, a quarterback at any time after a change of possession, and a player who receives a “blindside” block when the blocker is moving toward his own
endline and approaches the opponent from behind or from the side. Previously, these players were protected against blows to the head, but not against blows delivered by an opponent with the top/crown or forehead/”hairline” parts of the helmet against other parts of the body.
A receiver who has completed a catch is a “defenseless player” until he has had time to protect himself or has clearly become a
runner. A receiver/runner is no longer defenseless if he is able to avoid or ward off the impending contact of an opponent.
Previously, the receiver who had completed a catch was protected against an opponent who launched and delivered a blow to the receiver’s head.

2012
The list of “defenseless players” is expanded to include defensive players on crackback blocks, making it illegal to hit them in the head or neck area.

Players are required to wear protective knee and thigh pads beginning with the 2013 season.

A number of playing-rules changes were approved by NFL clubs for the 2012 season. The primary focus of those changes was enhancing player safety.

“We want to make the game safer both for the player being tackled and the player making the tackle,” says NFL Executive Vice President of Football Operations RAY ANDERSON (left). “We have no higher priority than player safety.”

Overtime procedures for the preseason and regular season were also adjusted (see page 71) to be in line with the modified sudden-death system that has been in use for the playoffs the past two seasons.

The 2012 rules changes and points of emphasis:

• UNNECESSARY ROUGHNESS:
Two adjustments were made to the unnecessary roughness rule:
o Existing unnecessary roughness rules have been adjusted to expand protections for defensive players with regard to rackback blocks. All players who are protected from crackback blocks will now be considered defenseless players.

In addition to contact below the waist, it will be illegal to forcibly block these players in the head or neck area or make forcible contact with the crown or forehead hairline part of the helmet to any part of body. All unnecessary roughness violations will result in a 15-yard penalty.

o Protections for the recipients of blindside blocks have also been clarified. Prior to 2012, a blindside block occurred when the blocker was moving towards his own end line and approached his opponent from behind or from the side. Beginning this season, the definition has been expanded to include situations in which a blocker is moving parallel with his own end line.

• INSTANT REPLAY:
Only a replay official can initiate a review of certain turnovers, providing more flexibility to coaches in the use of their challenges while maintaining a healthy game pace. This applies if a play results in an interception, if a fumble or backward pass is recovered by an opponent or goes out of bounds through the end zone, or if a muffed scrimmage kick is recovered by the kicking team (successful onside kick).

“We actually think this change may end up being something that could save time,” says NFL Competition Committee Chairman and Atlanta Falcons President/CEO RICH MC KAY. “More turnovers could potentially be reviewed by the referee, but we will never have a situation in which we have a turnover, go to timeout, come back, the teams come to the line of scrimmage and then a coach challenges.”

• TOO MANY MEN IN THE FORMATION:
In the interest of competitive fairness, penalties for too many men in the formation have been changed to dead-ball fouls from live-ball infractions that did not prevent the snap. If a 12th player is not in the formation, game officials will permit the snap and the penalty will be enforced after the play. Violations of this rule result in five-yard penalties.

There will also be points of emphasis on several existing rules this season (although the rules themselves have not changed):

• All rules that encourage player safety will continue to be strictly enforced, including unnecessary roughness fouls resulting from blows to the head by offensive and defensive linemen during close line play, horse-collar tackles, roughing the passer and hits on defenseless receivers. The goal is to eliminate these tactics from the game.

Officials will also be instructed to pay close attention to situations in which a runner declares himself down by falling to the
ground or kneeling and making no effort to advance the ball, thereby ending the play. A runner who goes to the ground untouched will be considered to have declared himself down if he does not make an immediate attempt to advance. If a runner makes an immediate effort to advance the ball, play will be allowed to continue.

Most NFL players get back to work Monday, roughly a month later than in previous offseasons, under a new set of negotiated rules designed to cut injuries by reducing wear and tear on players’ bodies.

Under new rules in the league’s collective bargaining agreement, offseason programs have been reduced from 14 weeks to nine per team. The number of organized team activities (OTAs), practices defined by offseason rules, has been cut from 14 to 10.

“The new rules are focused on player health and safety,” said George Atallah, assistant executive director of external affairs for the NFL Players Association. “The changes are important to ensure that players have a true offseason to rest and recover from a physically demanding profession.”

The cutbacks continue the wide-ranging effort by the league and union to reduce injury risks for players and, in particular, lower the number of hits to the head. There is no hitting among players during the offseason. Last season, contact was curbed during training camp and regular season practices.

Because last season’s lockout eliminated formal offseason activities, 2012 is the first year of the new program. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said the league plans to study the effects of the new provisions before reconsidering a proposal, made by the owners during the last set of labor negotiations, to lengthen the regular season from 16 to 18 games.

“I think we are going to have to go through this offseason cycle and try to see what the negotiated offseason cycle is like, the impact it has on the game, the impact it has on the individual players,” Goodell said at the annual league meeting last month in Palm Beach, Fla.

The new rules allow a player to work out on his own, if he chooses, at his team’s facilities before the offseason program begins, but prohibit him from meeting with coaches during that period.

Monday is the first day that teams — other than those with new head coaches — can begin their offseason workout programs, starting with two weeks of conditioning before more extensive on-field football-related drills start next month. Washington Redskins players are scheduled to begin their conditioning program at Redskins Park.

“I think coaches can adjust to anything,” Redskins Coach Mike Shanahan said at the league meeting late last month. With the lockout last year, as long as everybody was abiding by the same rules, you know what the rules are and you get a game plan for it. Same thing this year.”

The offseason is divided into three phases. In the first phase, which lasts two weeks, the work by players mostly is limited to strength, conditioning and rehabilitation of injuries. The second phase lasts three weeks. Players can be on the field for drills with individual instruction but there can be no offense-vs.-defense drills. The final offseason phase lasts four weeks and includes as many as 10 OTAs and one minicamp that’s mandatory for veteran players.

There is no hitting during the offseason. No pads are worn and players can wear helmets on the field only during the final offseason phase.

A team with a new head coach can start its offseason program two weeks earlier and can hold an additional voluntary minicamp prior to the NFL draft.

According to Atallah, one of the union’s goals during the labor negotiations was to put safeguards in place so teams and coaches could not overwork players year-round. Before the current labor deal took effect, most teams began their conditioning programs earlier and had busier offseason practice schedules. As many as 14 OTAs were allowed.

Jeff Fisher, the new coach of the St. Louis Rams, has expressed some concerns about how the new schedule might affect the development of a young quarterback. According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Fisher said recently he thinks a quarterback should be allowed to go to a team’s facility in February and March, if he wants, to watch tape and review the playbook with a coach.

But people familiar with the union’s view said the players wanted to ensure that coaches weren’t left to their own devices, and that players weren’t pressured into participating in offseason activities officially termed voluntary.

Shanahan said he has no qualms with the new arrangement.

“Some of these rules probably will be adjusted in a year,” he said. “But for right now, we know what they are and everybody abides by the same rules.”

This article was written by Mark Maske and appeared in the Washington Post.

The NFL is shrink-rapping football fans.

Unruly fans booted from stadiums this year will be required to pass a code-of-conduct exam — or they won’t be allowed back in for another game.

The idea was hatched by a licensed psychotherapist, The Post has learned.

“We’re not trying to squash anyone’s passion. We’re just trying to say don’t be violent,” said Dr. Ari Novick (right), the Californian who’s the brains behind the program.

Requirements will vary depending on the stadium, but most of the time the stadium louts will have to pass the test before being allowed back in, he said.

The classes are an effort to stem the rising tide of ugly stadium behavior that has included everything from bare-knuckle brawls to lewd Jets fans who screamed obscenities at women until they exposed their breasts in a rude Gate D tradition at the old Giants Stadium.

At the new MetLife Stadium, security chief Daniel DeLorenzi says about 25 fans are ejected from every Jet and Giant game — about 500 rowdies a year.

In 2010, the stadium was the first, along with the New England Patriots’ Gillette Stadium, to employ Novick’s classes.

Fans who get the boot must write DeLorenzi a letter of apology and take the four-hour, $75 online course, available at fanconductclass.com. To pass, they have to get at least 70 percent of the questions correct.

Even a fan with multiple concussions could figure out the answers to these queries.

One true-or-false question: “Every fan has a right to like any team they wish. Using abusive language towards fans who support teams you don’t like will not be tolerated.”

(This answer, believe it or not, is true.)

Novick takes in $55 for each test he certifies. Mothers Against Drunk Driving and the HERO Campaign for Designated Drivers split the remainder of the dough.

About 25 percent of those bounced don’t bother to take the course, DeLorenzi noted. Incorrigible wrongoers wind up on the “unforgiven” list — a book containing the name, photo and seat number of every booted fan.

A roving band of security guards monitors the stands each game for the unforgiven. If they are nabbed — and 10 have been over the past three years — they’re arrested for trespassing.

Most bounced fans grovel to get back in, especially season-ticket holders who could lose their ducats.

Even if it means lying on the cyber-couch.

“Most of the time, they apologize for their behavior,” DeLorenzi noted.

One remorseful fan wrote in November: “I am really sorry for my actions. I really do like the new stadium.

“I love going to football games and to concerts, and I really want to make sure I’m able to go back to future events.”

(source New York Post)

Last season, the N.F.L.’s postseason overtime rule got its first and only tests in two games, when the Denver Broncos beat the Pittsburgh Steelers with a touchdown pass on the first play of overtime in their playoff matchup and the Giants beat the San Francisco 49ers with a field goal in the N.F.C. championship.

That small sample size was apparently enough to convince owners that they liked the new format. On Wednesday, the owners changed overtime for the regular season so that it will mirror the postseason rule, which mandates that the team that wins the coin flip cannot win the game on its first possession with a field goal.

“It should be consistent,” said John Mara, the Giants’ president and a member of the competition committee.

The most significant of the other rule changes for next season calls for all turnovers to be automatically reviewed by replay officials without coaches having to use a challenge flag. The league does not believe that will add time to games because the clock already stops for turnovers. But owners rejected a proposal to have all instant replays reviewed by those in the booth rather than officials on the field.

The owners approved three more rules changes: the foul for having too many men on the field will now be a dead-ball foul with the clock stopping; a team will lose a down if a player illegally kicks a loose ball; and the recipient of a crack-back block is now considered a defenseless player, resulting in a 15-yard penalty.

A proposal to extend protection against horse-collar tackles to quarterbacks was rejected because it was determined that the risk of being injured by such tackles was not the same for a quarterback standing in the pocket as it was for a player running in the open field.

“We just didn’t see the injury risk,” said Rich McKay, the president of the Atlanta Falcons and the chairman of the competition committee.

Owners tabled until their May meeting proposals to expand the training camp roster to 90 players from 80; to move the trade deadline back two weeks, to the eighth week of the season; to allow one player to come off injured reserve during the season after an eight-week recovery time; and to create a roster exemption for a player with a concussion. Mara said he expected the bylaws to pass when owners reconvened in Atlanta.

This article was written by Judy Battista and appeared in the New York Times.

All of the N.F.L. power players are in Florida for the owners’ meetings. Being discussed, among other things, are possible rule changes for 2012 and beyond. One proposal from the Buffalo Bills is for the replay process to be confined to the booth. This idea is long overdue. It was written about in the Fifth Down blog in December after a replay procedure took over 10 minutes in a Raiders-Packers game.

Also on the table is a rule change that would mandate automatic replay for all turnovers. Last year, the N.F.L. put in automatic reviews for all scoring plays. Those reviews were often efficient and unobtrusive because…they were confined to the booth! (Although they became annoyingly long whenever the booth ruled that the head official needed to go under the hood for a closer inspection.)

Finding a quick, painless way to review all turnovers is a good idea, but here’s a better one: just make all plays automatically reviewable up in the booth, and give the booth official the power to override any on-field call. This is the direction the N.F.L. is going in anyway.

The understandable concern is prolonging the game. College football has an out-of-control replay setup; every play is subject to booth review and each team has one challenge. But the N.F.L. could instruct replay officials to be judicious with their powers. The league could publicly trumpet its goal of officiating perfection while privately telling the booth lords that it’s better to have a minor missed call or two and maintain the flow of a game than to nitpick for 3 hours 45 minutes.

When you think about it, red challenge flags are dramatic and fun, but it’s senseless to have a system that saddles a head coach with the responsibility of monitoring his team and the officiating crew. Why should arguing calls be a built-in element of strategy? In every sport, the goal with officials is to make them unrecognizable. Having replays quickly take place automatically and in a booth rather than in deliberate fashion on the field is the best way to do that.

With the turnover review rule change likely to receive the 75 percent of votes needed to pass, just about every significant on-field situation would now be subject to automatic review. By still leaving teams with a pair of challenges (and a third if the first two are successful), the N.F.L. is just inviting coaches to be more aggressive with their red flags. It would suddenly be less harmful to, for example, challenge a 3-yard catch near the sideline.

Referees are plenty prominent as it is. In a heavily-flagged game, they get as much full screen time as the coaches and quarterbacks (which is why most football fans now know who Ed Hochuli is). This needs to change. That can happen with one final all-encompassing correction to the system: the automatic reviews of all plays from the booth.

This article was written by Jack Styczynski and appeared in the New York Times.