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2013 New Football Rules

NewPapaBear

Well-known member
NCAA proposing several rules changes for 2013 season:

The NCAA is becoming more and more aggressive in officiating against head injuries. In its proposed rules changes that were announced today, the NCAA Football Rules Committee is now proposing to eject any player who target and make contact with defenseless players above the shoulders.

Targeting will be handled similarly to fighting, where a first half ejection removes the player for the rest of that game, and an ejection in the second half or overtime will result in a removal from that game and a first half suspension from the following game.

Ejections will be eligible for video replay, but the burden of proof will essentially lie on the offending player, as video replay will have to provide evidence to overturn the call on the field to keep the player in the game.

“Student-athlete safety will always be one of our primary concerns,” said Air Force head coach Troy Calhoun, who chairs the committee. “We all have a role to embrace when making a positive impact on our game. Taking measures to remove targeting, or above the shoulder hits on defenseless players, will improve our great sport.”

Other proposed rules modifications include:

- Blocks below the waist would now be allowed in typical line play, as long as they come from the front. Below the waist blocks from the side or back would not be allowed.

- A 10-second run off would be enforced for any injury timeouts that occur with less than a minute to play in each half.

- Spiking would only be permitted with three seconds on the clock or more remaining. If the ball is snapped with two or one seconds to play, the offense must run a play.

- A player changing numbers during a game must report the change to the referee, who will then announce the change. No more USC-Colorado situations allowed.

- Players would not be allowed to have the same number if they play the same position. Teams could still have two No. 7s, for instance, but they both can't play quarterback.

- Teams would have to wear either pants or jerseys that do not match the field. So Boise State would not be able to wear its all-blue uniforms.

- Officials would be permitted to communicate through electronic headsets.

- The Big 12 would be permitted to experiment with using an eighth official on the field for conference games.

- Instant replay would be allowed to adjust the clock at the close of each quarter. Previously, instant replay was only used to adjust the clock at the end of each half.
 
Next year I hear they are going to implement players wearing flags, which if removed during course of a play will result in the player being downed by contact.

Other proposals for 2014 include the one Mississippi, two Mississippi rule on pass rushing and replacing the current leather football with a Nerf, Itza or Squeezie to prevent players from injuring their hands when attempting to catch.
 
Certainly the goal to reduce head/neck trauma at any level of the game is warranted and necessary. However just like in the NFL which has this same rule, there needs to be some really specific definition of what the word target means in this situation.

As a player you are taught to tackle by driving your shoulder into the opponent and wrapping your arms around the biggest part of the body you can grab. You're never taught to lead with your head. This is true no matter which side of the ball you play on, but defensive players practice this over and over. The problem is when you actually get close enough to make a hit you have to move your head out of the way in order to avoid injury. When that happens you often times lose your line of sight. As a result you can't see the ball carrier or receiver when they duck to avoid potential injury.

So head to head and shoulder to head tackles will occur. The question is whether a particular defender is targeting the head area. This year the NFL took an "any blow to the head" policy and penalized the player who initiated the contact even his angle would have taken him well below the head had the offensive player not ducked to cover.

IMO there has to be some indication that the defender was going for the head purposefully for a penalty to be called.
 
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