Many fans, media and observers believe that NFL officials were overly aggressive when it came to roughing up passers-by. As the competition committee prepares to present owners with its annual rule change proposals, it seems likely that nothing will change when it comes to roughing up the passer.
Through NFL Network’s Judy Battista, the competition committee looked at 80 rough passer plays. The committee found that only three are “questionable”.
Only three? And only “questionable”?
The message is clear. They don’t change shit.
Sorry to be so blunt and rude. But the truth remains, as NFL executive vice president of football operations Troy Vincent explained to ESPN in October, the league places a high priority on keeping quarterbacks healthy. If that means tolerating “questionable” rough-and-tumble of the passers-by calls, so be it.
Once again, the biggest problem with the rule — one that’s rarely, if ever, mentioned beyond the confines of this website and the weekday show of the same name — is that the rule book specifically requires umpires to rough the passerby when there’s any doubt about it it rough happened.
Not everyone involved with the game agrees to doing nothing. In several reports, one team has proposed making passerby’s roughing verifiable.
But even if it is retested, the standard will be whether it is clear and obvious that the decision on the field was wrong. And since the rule specifically requires that a flag be flown “when in doubt,” when would it ever be “clear and obvious” that there was no doubt that roughing had taken place?
bottom line? Nothing changes. The league would rather deal with regular criticism stemming from phantom roughing calls than risk not having starting quarterbacks available for high-profile games.
It’s about keeping the quarterbacks healthy. And if that means players being flagged for roughing when roughing hasn’t happened, it’s a risk worth taking. Because it’s better than taking the risk of quarterbacks getting hit hard and then hurt.
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