NFL owners get down to business
— -- PHOENIX -- The NFL didn't come to the plush Biltmore resort with the idea of taking a vacation.
Roger Goodell opened the 2015 owners meeting with more action than expected. First, he appointed Todd Jones, the former director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, as his special counsel for player conduct. He's the new player-conduct czar.
In a vote of the owners, the NFL decided not to black out games that aren't sellouts this year. Politicians have been attacking the blackout policy for the past several years. Owners have been listening. In 2010, there were 26 blackouts. After that year, the NFL loosened the blackout rules and gave teams the option of lowering the percentages of ticket sales for blackouts. Last year, there were no blackouts.
It was also announced that the NFL is considering Brazil as the location of the 2017 Pro Bowl. That's significant in two ways. First, having a football game in Brazil fulfills the NFL's plans of gaining more fans internationally. Second, the thought shows Goodell is thinking about continuing the Pro Bowl after years of questioning its viability.
Here are the three things we learned Monday at the owners meetings:
1. The language of the catch rule has been updated. Ever since an apparent Calvin Johnson touchdown was ruled an incomplete pass in 2010, there has been confusion about what constitutes a catch. At the time, the NFL upheld its interpretation that a receiver must not only complete the catch, but he must also make a football move afterward while still in possession of the football. On Monday, the competition committee changed the language to say a pass-catcher needs establish himself as a runner after gaining possession of the ball. Dean Blandino, the NFL's supervisor of officials, believes this language change will clear up the confusion. Here's my question. How can a receiver falling to the ground while making a catch establish himself as a runner? I'm not sure if the definition of a catch is that much less confusing with that alteration.
Regardless of the language, Blandino made it clear the incredible Dez Bryant attempt for a reception in last year's playoffs was never going to be ruled a catch. As Bryant hit the ground, the ball came loose. That play, in fact, might explain why the NFL isn't making a more drastic change in the catch/non-catch rule.
2. The competition committee explained why it opposes expanding replays. Thirteen of the 18 proposed rule changes were from teams wanting to expand coaches' ability to make replay challenges to include all plays, or at the very least penalties. The competition committee advised owners that such a change would have an unforeseen negative effect on on-field officiating. "Instant replay was not intended to replace the subjective judgment of a replay official," the committee said. "The system was created to correct officiating errors that dealt with objective facts, involving goal lines, end lines, sidelines, the line of scrimmage, possession, and touching."
The committee added that recent expansions of replay challenges have complicated games. St. Louis Rams coach Jeff Fisher, co-chairman of the committee, said replay wasn't intended to make coaches the eighth official in a game. Good point. The committee cited a strong argument against including pass interference calls. The CFL did a one-year experiment with pass interference calls being challenged last year. There were 55 challenges and only six calls were overturned, creating 49 wasted challenges. Still, more teams are trying to push the NFL in a direction of expanding replay, which will lead to an interesting debate.
3. The second-hottest discussion is about extra points. Goodell wants extra points to be moved back to the 15-yard line to turn a near-automatic play into something of interest. Coaches such as Mike Tomlin, Mike McCarthy and others have talked about moving the conversion closer, to the 1-yard line, to create extra incentive to attempt two-point conversions. The Indianapolis Colts proposed rewarding a team that makes a two-point conversion with an additional long kick to make a scoring play potentially worth nine points.
While the competition committee suggests that the most that will come out of this debate this year will be some experimenting in the exhibition games, co-chairman Rich McKay said history shows you never know what will happen at an owners meeting. He brought up how the league annually was against implementing the two-point conversion, but eventually that passed. The odds of something happening at this meeting aren't good, but the momentum is shifting to some major changes in the near future.
Short takes
The Pittsburgh Steelers have to feel good about getting Ben Roethlisberger's contract extension done. Other quarterback deals might be slow to be completed. Colts owner Jim Irsay said he won't do an Andrew Luck extension until the next offseason. Russell Wilson is just beginning contact talks with the Seahawks. Philip Rivers doesn't want to do an extension with the Chargers during this season. There is no rush on Eli Manning with the Giants, either. ... A late proposal for safety is a good one. A resolution is being proposed for there to be a game stoppage if a certified athletic trainer viewing from above the field spots a player who appears to be traumatized from a hit. Part of impetus for this proposal involved Patriots receiver Julian Edelman in the Super Bowl. There were questions Edelman might have suffered a concussion. If this resolution is passed, the spotter could call the side judge and have the player examined under the concussion protocol. ... More owners are saying it is inevitable at least one team will be in Los Angeles in 2016. The St. Louis Rams have the best chance at the moment. ... Even though agent Ben Dogra told reporters that Adrian Peterson doesn't want to keep playing for the Minnesota Vikings, each day that passes makes it tougher for a trade. The Cowboys, thought to be a potential trading partner for Peterson, would have a hard time fitting the running back under their cap after they signed Greg Hardy.