Player safety was the focus of a number of proposed rules changes presented by the NCAA this week. Following three days of reviewing the rules of the game the NCAA Football Rules Committee is recommending some changes that could be implemented as soon as the 2012 season despite this being an off-year for rules changes. Altering rules for player safety are eligible to be voted on and implemented at any time.
The proposed alterations are related to moving the lines for kickoffs, what to do when a helmet comes off a player, blocking below the waist, blocking schemes on punts and protecting the kickers in the game. The Playing Rules Oversight Panel meets on February 21, at which time they will approve the proposed changes or reject them.
“In all of our proposals, we are continuing the annual effort to find ways to make our game safer where we can,” said Scot Dapp, chair of the committee and athletics director at Moravian College. “Without question, these changes will enhance student-athlete safety and we feel very comfortable based on the data we collected that the impact will be significant.”
Here are the proposed changes up for discussion, as written by the NCAA and followed by a brief editorial comment.
Kickoff and Touchback Starting Lines Moved. The committee voted to move the kickoff to the 35-yard line (currently set at the 30-yard line), and to require that kicking team players must be no further than five yards from the 35 at the kick, which is intended to limit the running start kicking teams have during the play. The committee also voted to move the touchback distance on free kicks to the 25-yard line instead of the 20-yard line to encourage more touchbacks. NCAA data indicates injuries during kickoffs occur more often than in other phases of the game.
It is good to see the NCAA come up with a plan to alter the kickoffs in the game without necessarily removing the aspect from the game that some coaches have suggested in the past. Former Rutgers coach Greg Schiano was one of the more vocal supporters for removing the kickoff from the game following a devastating injury to one of his own players, Eric LeGrand. While his intentions were good, the idea was a reach from the start.
Moving the kickoff lines to where the NCAA is proposing should increase the opportunity for a touchback. Some may frown upon this, but for the safety of student athletes, this seems like an easy decision. It needs to be done.
Loss of Helmet During Play. If a player loses his helmet (other than as the result of a foul by the opponent, like a facemask), it will be treated like an injury. The player must leave the game and is not allowed to participate for the next play. Current injury timeout rules guard against using this rule to gain an advantage from stopping the clock. Additionally, if a player loses his helmet, he must not continue to participate in play to protect him from injury. Data collected during the 2011 season indicated that helmets came off of players more than two times per game.
How many times have we seen players running around the field at full speed or in the pile-ups without a helmet? In an era where the concern for concussions has never been higher it was only a matter of time before some rules were put in to place for helmet-less players. It may go a little too far for many, myself included, but once again player safety is the key. On defense it basically eliminates a player from competing and gives the offense an extra advantage though. And what player is going to consciously give up on a play in the heat of the moment?
Blocking Below the Waist. The intent of the changes made last season were to only allow blocking below the waist when the opposing player is likely to be prepared for this contact, but the opposite impact was discovered in some cases. To clarify the intent, the committee approved wording that essentially allows offensive players in the tackle box at the snap that are not in motion to block below the waist legally without restriction. All other players are restricted from blocking below the waist with a few exceptions (e.g. straight ahead blocks).
This is more of a wording issue than anything else. It is intended to give more lenience to offensive linemen in the trenches, rather than hold them back.
Shield Blocking Scheme on Punting Plays. The committee reviewed several examples of shield blocking, which has become a popular blocking scheme for punting teams. In several cases, a receiving team player attempts to jump over this type of scheme in the backfield to block a punt. In some cases, these players are contacted and end up flipping in the air and landing on their head or shoulders. The committee is extremely concerned about this type of action and proposed a rule similar to the leaping rule on place kicks that does not allow the receiving team to jump over blockers, unless the player jumps straight up or between two players.
Again, this is all about player safety. From a football perspective it takes away a technique that punt defenses have had to employ after adapting to previous rule changes. What will come next, that will eventually be forbidden? We'll just have to wait and see.
Additional Protection to Kick Returner. Through officiating interpretation, the committee approved a recommendation to provide a kick returner additional protection to complete a catch before allowing contact by the kicking team.
Basically what this means is there will be an invisible bubble around a player, whether calling for a fair catch or not, and it will be illegal to enter that bubble. This takes away hard-rocking hits timed perfectly to take down a punt returner not calling for a fair catch. So long to a number of great hits in the game, but as with every other rule player safety is of the utmost importance for the NCAA rules committee. This is clearly an area worth reviewing if the mission is to reduce head and upper body injuries.
Kevin McGuire is a national college football writer for Examiner.com and the host of the No 2-Minute Warning podcast. He can be reached at cfbexaminer@gmail.com.
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