Game Revisions: NFL’s New Rules for 2016

Throughout its history, the National Football League (NFL) has undergone several rule revisions—some intentional, others out of necessity. These changes were made in a systematic and consensus-based process. Some changes were implemented immediately while others took much longer time under careful studies.

 

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These rule changes are made for the purpose of improving (ideally) the game, making it more exciting for viewers but without the need to reduce its integrity. Since 1974, the kickoff line has been moved three times in response to emerging circumstances and trends. Majority of the changes are also focused on players’ health and safety, creating guidelines for reduced risk of injury. In 2009, there was a rule revision to prevent defensive players from forming a wedge to block for the return man on kickoff returns to prevent injuries.

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For NFL 2016, several game rules have also been made. They are as follows:

• Permanently moving the line of scrimmage for try kicks to the defensive team’s 15-yard line, and allowing the defense to return any missed try
• Permitting the offensive and defensive play callers on the coaching staff to use the coach-to-player communication system regardless of whether they are on the field or in the coaches’’ booth
• Making all chop blocks illegal
• Expanding the horse collar rule to include when a defender grabs the jersey at the name plate or above and pulls a runner toward the ground
• Making it a foul for delay of game when a team attempts to call a timeout when it is not permitted to be done so
  Eliminating the 5-yard penalty for an eligible receiver illegally touching a forward pass after being out of bounds and re-establishing himself inbounds, and making it a loss of down
• Eliminating multiple spots of enforcement for a double foul after a change of possession
• Changing the spot of the next snap after a touchback resulting from a free kick to the 25-yard line
• Disqualifying a player who is penalized twice in one game for certain types of unsportsmanlike conduct fouls

My name is Jason Goldblatt, or Jace for short. I work as a freelance sports writer and sports blogger, with most of my posts revolving around football and the gridiron. See you on Twitter.

American Football and Psychology: Why We Can’t Get Enough of this Game

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Amid injuries, scandals, and other media-driven drama, the Super Bowl remains as the most-viewed television show in history. Every year, the NFL reports record-breaking profits from tickets, merchandise, and sponsorships.

We cannot explain, but we just know by heart and mind that American football is “the game.” However, some neuroscientists and psychologists have an explanation as to why American football reflects our culture and thoughts.

These specialists point out that your brain is mirroring the actions of these athletes, and this gives us self-esteem boosts. This sense of mix-up holds an alternative reality for those who are facing tough life decisions and relationships. They feel as if they are “not alone,” because their favorite athletes are facing these as well.

Football also gives a sense of bonding between men of different ages, religions, and political beliefs. Football allows men to talk to one another regardless of their differences. It does not require much emotional vulnerability, too. The game also provides intellectual and strategic discourse. Football is a controlled and calculated chaos that may or may not display favorable results.

 

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However, football also displays a dark side–great misogyny, violence, and corruption. Football is also about destruction. For the country as a whole, football displays America’s war ambitions. This war-like game helps us become self-aware of our past fights and victories. The rise of football over any other sport has changed America’s self-image.

I’m Jason Goldblatt, and I’m a freelance sports writer and football fanatic. Check out my blog for more updates.

American football abroad: Europe’s increasing fondness of the gridiron

The NFL may be watched “only” in the U.S. or Canada and could even be understood only by North Americans. However, it’s fast gaining traction in other countries as well. Particularly in soccer-centric Europe, the fondness for the gridiron is finally taking off. France, Spain, Germany, the U.K., and Poland are all enthusiastic American football audiences. Hooray!

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For Europeans, gridiron is a weird sport. It’s called American football, but players seldom (or never) kick the ball. The pitch is also marked with plenty of lines and numbers that they barely understand. Unlike soccer, rules are much easier to comprehend, and the pitch has fewer visual distractions.

At the Oneida High School, exchange students from France and Spain enjoyed their first taste of American football. While they still prefer soccer, playing America’s most popular sport was not bad at all.

In Poland, U.S.-born coach Brad Arbon was hired to supervise and train players of the Polish national team. The country’s strong dedication toward the sport is eminent in its growing number of American football programs especially designed for its citizens.

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Outside the U.S., Germany is perhaps the best playing country for American football. There are currently about 500 teams playing the sport in Deutschland, from youth flag football to the senior semi-professional level. According to German Football League chairman Carsten Dalkowski, half the people playing American football throughout Europe come from Germany.

My name is Jason Goldblatt and I have been watching, following, and writing about American football for many years. True-blue fan here. Subscribe to my blog for more articles about this amazing sport.

REPOST: 5 Reasons Why 80% Of Retired NFL Players Go Broke

A recent estimate by Sports Illustrated claims that 80 percent of NFL players go broke three years after their retirement. Leigh Steinberg believes that the athletes’ lack of long-term financial planning may be the biggest reason for their financial troubles. More of his insights in the Forbes article below:

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Sports Illustrated recently estimated that 80% of retired NFL players go broke in their first three years out of the League. How is this possible in a sport rolling in revenue with an average salary of almost $2 million a year? With few exceptions, the star players I have represented since salaries exploded are set financially for life. These are the players at the tip of the compensation pyramid, but what about the rest? The median income in the NFL is roughly $750,000 and the average career span is less than four years. Most college graduates don’t attain these levels of revenue in their first years out of college–why are the athletes struggling?

1)Lack of competent financial planning advice–Athletes are no different than any other college grads in that they were not trained as undergrads in budgeting, the tax system, and long term financial planning. This is an area of specialized expertise and an athlete receiving large compensation needs a safety net of advisors. Upon signing a potential draftee we encouraged them to pick a qualified financial advisor with a proven track record. These advisors help the athlete put together a budget, follow mutually agreed upon strategies, and protect themselves legally. A community oriented athlete will find beneficial relationships with businessmen off the field who are also willing to help.

When parents, university panels, and alums screen prospective agents and financial planners, it enables the athlete to make a better choice. But many NFLers are approached on campus by financial planners and agents who offer financial inducements to sign with them. Some financial planners ask players to sign power of attorney enabling the advisor to make investments or withdraw money without prior authorization–this is fraught with peril.

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The NFLPA has tried to protect players financially. They have a program that scrutinizes financial planners and only allows referrals to the planners who they approve. The NFLPA offers education in the financial areas in a variety of ways. The NFL holds a mandatory seminar for draft picks that also tries to warn and protect them. Some athletes do not avail themselves of any of these protections.

2)Supporting a village–Some athletes feel obliged to provide financial support to family, extended family and friends. They are sharing their largess with a large number of others.

3)Divorce–Often cited as the number one challenge, divorce drains funds in legal fees and dissipates assets. The athlete ends up with half of what they earned and may have large and burdensome alimony and child support payments.

4)Lack of awareness of how rapidly a career can end–The athlete forgets that the current rate of compensation is not going to last and can be terminated by injury or skill at any point. Spending habits assume the revenue will be coming forever.

5)Lack of preparation for second career–NFL players have long off seasons they can use to lay the foundation for their life after football. Some athletes do not give it a thought and end up missing the structure and direction that football has given them. The early retirement years can be non-productive.

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There are gifted advisors that an athlete can utilize. The League, NFLPA and agents try and push athletes to use help which also embodies a teaching aspect that can empower awareness. It is up to the athlete to follow the guidance.​

Sports enthusiast Jason Goldblatt follows the NFL. Get the latest football updates here.

REPOST: Tom Brady Laughs at N.F.L. Inquiry Into Deflated Footballs

New England quarterback Tom Brady laughed off accusation that his team used deflated footballs to win against Indianapolis Colts in a rain-soaked AFC Championship game. More about the controversy in the article below.

Deflated balls would have been easier to grip in Sunday night’s wet weather, but Tom Brady laughed off the allegations.

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Sunday night was a smooth joy ride for the New England Patriots, with a 45-7 pounding of the Indianapolis Colts that propelled them into another Super Bowl. But Monday morning was a good deal bumpier, with the disclosure that the N.F.L. was investigating whether the Patriots used deflated footballs to gain an unfair advantage in Sunday’s game.

The game was played in the rain, and deflated balls would have been easier to grip in the wet weather. But Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, who completed 23 of 35 passes for 226 yards and moved the ball up and down the field with ease, was having none of it.

Asked about the accusation during his regular Monday appearance on the Boston radio station WEEI, Brady laughed it off.

“I think I’ve heard it all at this point,” Brady said. “Oh, God. It’s ridiculous.”

He went on to add: “That’s the last of my worries. I don’t even respond to stuff like this.”

Brady said he had been unaware of the issue until Monday morning, and Patriots Coach Bill Belichick, in a conference call with reporters, said the same.

“We’ll cooperate fully with whatever the league, whatever questions they ask us, whatever they want us to do,” Belichick said.

Asked if the Patriots used deflated footballs, Belichick said, “The first I heard about it was this morning.” Asked whether there could be an advantage to using deflated footballs, Belichick said: “Look, you’re asking the questions. I’m just trying to answer them.”

An N.F.L. spokesman, Michael Signora, confirmed that the league was investigating.

Bob Kravitz, a former columnist for The Indianapolis Star who now works for WTHR-TV in that city, was the first to raise the issue, addressing it on Twitter on Sunday night. At the start of the third quarter, the referees did replace one ball with another while the Patriots were on offense.

For every N.F.L. game, each team has at least 12 balls that it has prepared according to the needs of its starting quarterback. The balls are switched out from sideline to sideline depending on which team is on offense.

According to N.F.L. rules, teams are required to inflate balls to 12.5 to 13.5 pounds per square inch and to make them available for testing by the referee 2 hours 15 minutes before kickoff.

The referee is the “sole judge as to whether all balls offered for play comply” with league specifications, according to the rules. Some balls are designated for kicking only.

Patriots players said Monday that they knew nothing about the accusations.

Left tackle Nate Solder, who in the third quarter caught one of Brady’s three touchdown passes, told reporters: “I don’t know anything about that. I’m glad I caught it.”

Wide receiver Julian Edelman told reporters, “I think it’s just a story.”

In November 2012, the Pacific-12 Conference fined and reprimanded the University of Southern California, then coached by Lane Kiffin, for using deflated footballs in a game against Oregon. An investigation by the university determined that one of the student managers had intentionally deflated the footballs, acting on his own. He was fired.

The charge against New England comes a week after the Patriots used trick formations, all legal, to defeat Baltimore, drawing objections from the Ravens.

The former New England linebacker Tedy Bruschi, an analyst for ESPN, dismissed the latest allegations as more sour grapes.

“It does get old,” Bruschi wrote on ESPN Boston. “Coaches complaining they weren’t ready for formations. I’ve heard it all. There is a long line of people who want to find some excuse for how the Patriots have had success for so long, and the bottom line is that it’s good coaching and good players.”

In 2007, the Patriots were stripped of their 2008 first-round draft pick after the N.F.L. determined that the team had violated league rules when a Patriots staff member videotaped signals by Jets coaches during the season opener at the Meadowlands. In what has come to be known as Spygate, New England was also fined $250,000, and Belichick was fined $500,000.

Hello, I am Jason Goldblatt, a crazy football fan who lives for the thrill of the sport. Check out my blog for more of my musings from the bleacher and enter in the ultimate fan experience with a daily dose of sports news and updates from around the world.