NFL end zone touchback rule under scrutiny again but owners not interested in change

The end zone fumble that results in a touchback, for many, is one of the worst rules in professional football. For some, it’s one of the last remaining rules that benefits the defense. And others just don’t see anything wrong with it.

For all the talk surrounding the rule every time it happens in a game — and it rarely happens — nothing has ever been done about it. The debate has been full of sound and fury signifying nothing, to borrow from a famous poet.

The NFL for decades has received rules-change proposals from the competition committee and from its 32-member clubs. Combing through proposals over the past decade, not one team has offered to change the rule. A league source believes no team has ever put forth a proposal.

Asked whether there has been any formal discussion in recent years to change the rule, a competition committee source texted CBS Sports saying: “None.” Another source indicated no formal discussions have been had about the rule in the last five years.

At the heart of the issue, a source said, is that no one has been able to crystalize what an alternative would be. And if no one cares enough to offer an alternative to the rule, then there won’t be any change to the rule.

The NFL rulebook states: “If a ball is fumbled in the field of play, and goes forward into the opponent’s end zone and over the end line or sideline, a touchback is awarded to the defensive team.” When the ball is fumbled out of a team’s own end zone, “it is a safety, if that team provided the impetus that sent the ball into the end zone.”

The safety ruling isn’t at issue in the public’s view. Many argue the end zone touchback rule is too punitive for the offense. The defense never possessed the ball via a recovery, so it shouldn’t get the benefit of possession as the thinking goes.

The 2022 season did not see a single end zone fumble resulting in a touchback. There was just one in the…

Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/nfl-end-zone-touchback-rule-under-scrutiny-again-but-owners-not-interested-in-change/

Author : Jonathan Jones

Publish date : 2023-09-17 10:00:34

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