Updated: Friday, 3:02 p.m. The Eagles have withdrawn all but one of these proposals.
Next week, when the NFL convenes for its owners meetings in Phoenix, there will be 15 proposed rule changes under consideration by the competition committee.
While the one proposed rule change would cut regular-season overtime from 15 to 10 minutes (see story), there are 14 others up for discussion.
Of those 15, seven were submitted by NFL teams. And of those seven, four were submitted by the Eagles.
Three of the four rule proposals from the Eagles are safety related.
Here are the four from the Eagles, per the NFL:
1. Gives additional protections for long snappers on kick plays.
2. Prohibits the “leaper” block attempt on field goal and extra point plays.
3. Expands the “crown of helmet” foul to include “hairline” part of helmet.
4. Amends the challenge system by granting a third challenge if a club is successful on at least one of its initial two challenges, and expands reviewable plays outside of two minutes of each half.
NFL
The first proposed rule would offer long snappers -- Jon Dorenbos included -- some extra protection. It would add this language to Article 6, Unnecessary Roughness: "When a team is in scrimmage kick formation, a defensive player may not initiate contact with the snapper until one second has elapsed after the snap."
The second proposed rule change is one of the proposals that has garnered the most attention. Basically, the league now allows players to leap over the line of scrimmage on kicks as long as they don't touch anyone. This new rule would completely outlaw the process of leaping over the line.
It seems like this rule change is likely to happen. The NFLPA has previously asked for this rule to be changed.
"So the inevitable is going to happen, and just hearing from the players association, Philly now proposing it is really in the best interest of the game," former Eagle and league football operations director Troy Vincent said on a conference call Thursday.
The next rule does pretty much exactly what it says: it expands the area that is considered to be the "crown of the helmet."
Here's the new language that would be added to Article 8, Initiating Contact with the Crown of the Helmet: "Lowering the head and making forcible contact with the crown or 'hairline' parts of the helmet against any part of an opponent shall be considered a foul even if the initiating player's head moves after initial contact and the majority of contact occurs with the side or front of the helmet."
Finally, the last proposal isn't a safety one. It's about replay and is pretty self-explanatory for the most part.
The reasoning given for this rule change on the proposal: "Provides coaches with a greater opportunity to correct subjective officiating errors, but excludes those fouls that have a minimal opportunity for reversal."
