Arthur Blank on NFL touchdown celebration, overtime rule changes

Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank gives remarks during a press conference in 2015. KENT D. JOHNSON /KDJOHNSON@AJC.COM

Credit: Kent Johnson

Credit: Kent Johnson

Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank gives remarks during a press conference in 2015. KENT D. JOHNSON /KDJOHNSON@AJC.COM

Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank appeared on SiriusXM NFL Radio on Wednesday to discuss the new NFL rule changes.

On Tuesday, the NFL announced touchdown celebration rules would be relaxed in 2017, allowing players to use the football as a prop, celebrate on the ground and take part in group celebrations.

"Allowing (the players) to celebrate in appropriate ways after something great happens, a touchdown, field goal, winning a game, whatever the event may be is natural... Frankly, our players are going to be, in my opinion, very creative because they are creative. You know, they love to dance, they love music and they know how to do it, so I certainly expect to see a lot more of that and I'm looking forward to that next year personally,” Blank said.

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The NFL also announced on Tuesday overtime would be reduced from 15 minutes to 10 minutes.

Blank said all parties— the NFL and team owners— agreed they don’t want the NFL to encourage ties.

“The reason it's gone from 15 to 10 minutes is not so much in games one, two, three or four, but when you get to... games 10, 12, 14, 15 et cetera, you know, players are tired, teams are tired. I mean they get out there and they play again great. They commit themselves and they get into the flow of the game, but those extra five minutes at the wrong time of the year can create more of an atmosphere or environment for injuries. So that was the effort behind it. It'll be tested, we'll see how it works and we'll go from there,” Blank said.