FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. – Veteran NFL officials Ed Hochuli, Doug Rosenbaum and Mark Hittner were at training camp for a second day Friday to review Falcons practice and answer questions regarding rule changes.
Each year the league’s competition committee, which is co-chaired by President and General Manager Rich McKay, makes rule-change recommendations to increase player safety and improve the quality of the game.
Changes for 2007 are light compared to past years, but Hochuli and his team still do their homework to get themselves, and teams, ready for the season.
“The one (change) I think is the most dramatic is not really a rule change, it’s just an interpretation change from the competition committee that deals with what is a completed catch,” Hochuli said.
Beginning this season, a receiver that gets two feet down and has control of the ball has a reception.
Traditionally a player needed to make “a football move” after a catch to have it classified a reception. Now, a quick hit from a defender could result in a fumble.
“Sometimes there’s a situation where there were three steps and the ball would come out and it would be correctly ruled an incomplete pass,” Hochuli said. “So, the receiver gets a second foot down, gets hit and the ball comes lose -- we would have a fumble rather than an incomplete pass.”
The play will continue to be subject to review via instant replay.
Another prominent change includes player celebration and spiking the ball. Beginning in 2007, a player can only spike the ball to celebrate a touchdown or if they are as part of a celebration out of bounds.
“If a player scores, or thinks he has scored, and he spikes the football obviously that’s no problem – as long as he doesn’t spike it at the feet in a taunting situation of another player,” Hochuli said. “If he gets a first down or catches a long pass and hops up and spikes or throws the ball, that’s a 5-yard penalty for delay of game.
“It does delay the game and it’s something that carries over to Saturday mornings when the youth football leagues are playing... The NFL is always very concerned about sportsmanship and what it passes on to younger players.”
Players must also take extra care in buckling their chinstraps this season. If any strap is unbuckled at the snap the player will be subject to a fine.
Officials will not penalize players for chinstrap violations – that responsibility goes to the uniform official who tallies up other violations – but they will give friendly reminders on the field.
“This is part of the league’s never-ending effort to try to make the game safer,” Hochuli said. “There have been several studies shown that it increases the chance of a concussion if a players’ chin strap is not buckled when he gets hit.”
Another major change comes at the goal line, where players will have to work a little harder on those acrobatic touchdown dives.
Beginning this season, the football must cross over or inside the pylon for a touchdown to be awarded. In past years, any part of a player’s body could cross the plane – even if the ball was out of bounds – for a score.
Hochuli also outlined changes in how “roughing the passer" will be called.
A player can now make contact with the quarterback, even send him to the ground, as long as it’s part of a continuous motion from his attempt to make a tackle.
“We try to protect the quarterbacks because they’re defenseless out there and they’re an integral part of the game,” Hochuli said. “There’s always that issue of interpretation. It’s going to take more than if he’s one step away and then he pushes him.
“The competition committee felt the rules had gone a little bit too far in protecting the quarterback in a situation where he’s very unlikely to get hurt... A lot of times a quarterback goes down just because he doesn’t have his balance.”