In odd moments, NFL’s book rules
In a game against the Chicago Bears last month, Eric Bassey of the St. Louis Rams went out for a pass on a fake punt and was tackled before the ball arrived. He sprang to his feet, confident he had drawn a penalty. A clear case of pass interference.
“He hits me well before the ball gets there,” Bassey said. “I’m thinking it’s got to be something, so of course when I get up, I’m throwing my hands up saying, ‘Throw the flag!’ ”
Sorry, Eric. Apparently you weren’t familiar with Note No. 5 under Article 5 under Section 2 under Rule 8 on page 54 of the NFL rule book. There it is, plain as day: “Whenever a team presents an apparent punting formation, defensive pass interference is not to be called for action on the end man on the line of scrimmage.”
In plainer English, that means the two guys who line up wide on either side in punt formation — the gunners, as they are known in the locker room — can never be victims of pass interference. They can be leveled with impunity anytime a defender sees the ball coming their way.
Didn’t know that? Don’t worry. A lot of players didn’t, either, until Bassey found out the hard way.
“Something’s going to have to come up for you to learn that one,” Bassey said.
That one, plus many others. For, as recent games have shown, the NFL has yet to meet a rule it doesn’t like — or like to have variations of.
“There’s so many obscure rules,” said Washington Redskins long snapper Ethan Albright, a 14-year veteran. “I don’t know how the referees know them, and they do it for a living.”
The rule book has become so thick — the online version runs 112 pages — that the players, coaches and even the officials aren’t always sure what the call should be. It’s reached the point that the league’s vice president of officiating, Mike Pereira, has begun sending out regular tapes parsing the most subtle nuances of calls made in recent games, with commentary lines such as: “This is not a field goal attempt because it is kicking a backward pass.” He also contributes a weekly “Official Review” segment on the NFL Network.
It all begs the question: Has the game become too complicated for its own good?
“Let me just say I don’t read James Michener at night when I go home,” Pereira said. “My reading has always been the rule book. Even though I’ve been at it for so long, I literally have to keep reading it all the time so that I can try to stay up to date on everything.”
A new trend in recent years is the out-of-bounds kickoff ploy. In a game against Buffalo, New York Jets kick returner Leon Washington deliberately stepped out of bounds before touching a kickoff that was still inbounds. Under the rules, that’s a penalty for an out-of-bounds kickoff, so the Jets got the ball at the 40 instead of the 8 — and took advantage of the good field position to score a touchdown.
“That’s been one of my favorites,” Pereira said, “because every special teams coordinator teaches it.”
Sometimes, however, the correct interpretation doesn’t make it all the way to the player. Minnesota’s Adrian Peterson goofed up the maneuver in a big way when he touched a kickoff and then stepped out of bounds — at his 1-yard line. The Vikings had to start the drive right there.
Officials keep abreast on all rules obvious and obscure by taking three league-required tests totaling 400 questions during the preseason, plus weekly tests with about 50 questions during the season. In every game crew, Pereira said, there is usually one official known as “the master rule guy.”
“We go over a lot of different things, a lot of different scenarios, and things that could happen and things that have happened in the past,” Buffalo Bills punter Brian Moorman said. “You look at tape. You do everything you can to learn them all, but at the end of the day, sometimes you’re just going to learn a new one on Sunday.”
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