NFL rule changes to emphasize player safety

FLOWERY BRANCH -- NFL official Jerome Boger recently spent three days at the Falcons' facilities to make sure the team was up to speed on the rule changes for the 2010 season.

He showed the league-produced film that highlighted the specific changes and answered questions from the coaches and players. He had plenty to cover.

Points of emphasis for 2010 include sportsmanship and demonstrating respect for the game, no gesturing for officials to make calls and awareness of player safety, according to Boger, who lives in Conyers and played quarterback at Morehouse.

The major rule change adopted at the NFL annual meeting in March involved the new modified sudden-death overtime format for the playoffs. But there are a number of other rule changes for the season.

The most conspicuous official in the middle of the action will not line up in the same place as in the past.

The umpire, who used to be situated behind the defensive line in the linebacker area, will now move behind the offensive backfield opposite of the referee. He will be in his new position for all plays except for field goals and extra point attempts. He will also return to his old spot inside the two-minute warning of the second and fourth quarters.

"There are some mechanical issues that we wanted to get clear on, like how they were going to spot the ball," Falcons coach Mike Smith said. "We got that answered."

Mike Pereira, the NFL's former vice president of officiating who has joined Fox Sports as a rules analyst, sees both positives and negatives with the move.

Three positives include the safety of the umpire, a better view for offensive holding and eliminating receivers from using the umpire to set picks on defenders.

A potential negative for the new positioning is that defensive holding will be harder to see. It will also be hard to determine if defensive players are trying to simulate the quarterback's signal calls at the line, which is illegal.

"There are some challenges that this movement of the umpire is going to bring to light, but they are challenges both for the offense and the defense," Pereira said.

Some of the other rule changes include:

• If a ball carrier's helmet comes off during a play, the ball will immediately be blown dead. "We watched some tape where players are running in the field of play without helmets," said Rich McKay, co-chairman of the NFL competition committee. "That's not a safe situation."

In an exhibition game Aug. 16, New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning's helmet came off when he collided with a teammate and he suffered a gash in the subsequent tackle that required more than 10 stitches.

"Even though he lost the ball prior to his helmet coming off, you can see why you want to protect him because that hit he took was a pretty vicious hit," Pereira said.

• A dead ball personal foul on the final play of the second or fourth quarters will result in a 15-yard penalty on the second-half or overtime kickoff. Previously, no penalty was enforced.

• If a punt returner makes a fair catch signal and muffs the ball, he will be afforded a "reasonable opportunity" to catch the muff before it hits the ground without interference of the coverage team.

• When a ball strikes a video or scoreboard, guide wire or sky cam, the play is whistled dead and replayed. The game clock will be reset to when the play started. This is the rule made in response to a punt hitting the scoreboard last preseason at Cowboys Stadium.

• No defensive player can line up across from a long snapper on punts, extra point or field goal attempts. This is an expansion of a 2009 rule that made defenders line up with only their helmet outside the snapper.

There are some existing rules that will be emphasized by officials:

• Taunting will be considered as any abusive, threatening or insulting language or gestures made in the direction of an opponent or the opposing bench. It will result in a 15-yard penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct. Game officials will pay particular attention to in-the-face exchanges between opponents.

• All player safety rules will continue to be enforced, including unnecessary roughness, chop blocks, clipping and illegal blocks below the waist on changes of possession. The league intends to eliminate these tactics from the game.