NFL rule changes: Owners expected to end the ‘Tuck rule’ amid other fixes

The NFL owners meetings concluded on Wednesday, but not after passing a handful of rule changes for the 2013 season. NFL owners voted to abolish the tuck rule, peel-back blocks and overloaded special teams formations. Perhaps the most controversial rule change to come of the NFL owners meetings regards player safety, as offensive players cannot lead with the crown-of-the-helmet into defenders when outside of the tackle box.

The rule is designed to prevent offensive players from using their helmet as a weapon. In theory, the rule will help prevent further head injuries to both offensive players and defensive players.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell spoke about possible changes to the Pro Bowl and the “Rooney Rule” as well as the potential of having an NFL franchise located in Los Angeles during his press conference at the conclusion of the owners meetings Wednesday.

Of the four major sports all-star games in the United States, the Pro Bowl is perceived as the weakest, and Goodell suggested a new way of selecting the Pro Bowl teams -- via a captains draft, with two quarterbacks selecting teams.

NFL owners voted to eliminate the tuck rule Wednesday, and the rule was “overwhelmingly” eliminated, according to NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport.

New England went on to win that game and three of the next four Super Bowls.

Cushing tore his ACL as a result of a “peel-back” block, which is now illegal going forward. After the game, Cushing said that it was a “dirty block,” and that he hoped the NFL would ban that particular type of block.

The “peel-back” block is perhaps best explained by the NFL’s rule book, per Pro Football Talk:

Special teams coaches will have to adapt to a new rule change this summer when training camps open around the NFL. Owners voted to ban overload formations on special teams, meaning a team attempting to block a field goal or point-after-try will need to have no more than six defenders on either side of the center prior to the snap.

Additionally, a player must have his entire body outside the long snapper’s shoulders, which should help protect long snappers.

Efforts to protect football players from head injuries have regularly punished defensive players in recent years, but running backs could be subject to 15-yard penalties and/or fines from the league for use of their helmet, due to a new rule proposed by the NFL’s competition committee.

“We want to bring the shoulder back to the game,” Fisher said. “We all know the helmet is a protective device; it’s not designed to be used like it’s being used as of late and we want to protect our players, specifically out in space.”

Emmitt Smith, the NFL’s all-time leading rusher, went on a Dallas radio show Thursday and also voiced his opinion.

The rule is the latest in a series of rules the NFL has sought to increase player safety. Sporting News compiled a list of other rule changes the rules committee may seek at this week’s league meetings. The list includes eliminating the tuck rule, banning peel-back blocks inside the tackles and a change in the procedure of throwing challenge flags.

The NFL tuck rule could be no more if a proposal by the NFL Competition Committee is approved during the annual league meetings.

A change to the tuck rule was one of six rule change proposals announced by the Competition Committee on Thursday. If the proposal is accepted, the new rule would result in a fumble on any play where the quarterback loses the ball while in the process of moving it back to his body after a pump fake. The proposed change is not unexpected, as Dean Blandino, the NFL director of officiating said in January the league would look into changing the rule.