Most football rules favor the offense to promote more scoring and greater fan interest. However, I think it is time for a few revisions.

Tush Push

If the NFL is going to continue to allow offensive players to push the ball carrier and directly assist with his forward progress, then the Tush Push is a legal play and should remain in the game. However, I think this rule should be reversed. Any player on offense who helps advance the ball by pushing, pulling, or tossing the runner should be penalized. In other words, assist the ball carrier by blocking, not by pushing him down the field.

This rule change makes the Tush Push illegal and equalizes the concept of forward progress on both sides of the ball. The football is always spotted at the point of forward progress when the defense tackles or stops a runner. When several linebackers force a player back five yards after the initial hit, the ball carrier is always awarded the yards obtained at the point of attack. Why should the offense be awarded additional yardage when the runner is stopped, the play is essentially over, but several 300-pound offensive linemen crash into the scrum and push the pile another three or four yards down the field? This element of the game needs to be eliminated, especially if the league is concerned with player safety.

Defensive Pass Interference

The defensive pass interference penalty is too extreme. A quarterback can fire the ball 50 yards down the field into the end zone and draw a pass interference penalty that places the ball on the one-yard line. A 49-yard penalty results when a referee decides that there is too much contact between a wide receiver and a cornerback on a ball that is equally catchable by either player. I think the pass interference penalty should be the same as defensive holding, 5 yards and an automatic first down.

The defensive pass interference penalty should be eliminated on the underthrown ball. When a receiver is sprinting down the field with a defender in pursuit, the offensive player will stop on a dime, reverse course, and plow into the defender in an attempt to catch an underthrown pass. In this situation, the defensive player is penalized for doing his job and the quarterback is rewarded for a poorly thrown pass. If a cornerback or safety can react fast enough, an interception could result. Despite these players being some of the fastest and quickest athletes in the world, they really have no chance to defend the underthrown ball in most situations.

Passes and Laterals Behind the Line of Scrimmage

I would like to see all incomplete forward passes, backward passes, shovel passes, laterals, and batted balls that fail to travel past the line of scrimmage treated as fumbles. Is there really any difference between a shovel pass and a pitch play? A dropped screen pass behind the line of scrimmage should be a fumble; a mishandled lateral is already considered a fumble. The offense could recover the ball and advance, but the defense would have an excellent chance to force a turnover.

This rule change would eliminate the need for officials to determine whether a pass was forward or backward since it would no longer matter. Fumbles that occur when the quarterback’s arm is hit while throwing would no longer need to be reviewed. The play is an incomplete pass that failed to cross the line of scrimmage and, therefore, a fumble. Spiking the ball to kill the clock would no longer be allowed since it would be considered a fumble. Quarterbacks would have to throw the ball out of bounds to kill the clock. Why is spiking the ball a legal play anyway? It seems that some intentional grounding rules no longer apply after the two-minute warning.

Batted balls would be complicated by this rule. A fumble and the scramble to recover it would occur when a defensive player knocks the football out of the air before it travels past the line scrimmage. An incomplete pass results when cornerback deflects a forward pass in the secondary. Plenty of reviews would be triggered by defensive linemen batting down passes near the line of scrimmage. Officials would have to determine if the batted ball crossed
the line of scrimmage or not. After the football was deflected, did it travel backward or far enough forward to clear the line of scrimmage and warrant an incompletion? I can see a lot of time wasted by this process.

Kickoff

The NFL is trying to improve player safety with these ridiculous kickoff rules, but the NFL kickoff should be the same as that in the college game. Line the kicking team up at the 35 and kick the ball as far or short as desired. Bring the surprise onside kick back into the game. Allow the receiving team to call for a fair catch. Touchbacks and fair catches can result in the ball being placed at the 20- or 25-yard line. The offense should not be able to start their drives with the ball on the 35 as the result of a touchback. That is too much of a reward for no effort.

If player safety is the real issue, then all players need to be required to wear the outer helmet pad. That hard plastic helmet is just as much a weapon for running backs as it is for linebackers. Injuries will decrease if the outer layer of the helmet of every player is padded.

Roughing the Passer

A roughing the passer penalty is often called when a defensive lineman reaches up to block a pass and brushes the quarterback's helmet with his hand while dropping his arm. I understand the need to protect quarterbacks. They play the most important position on the team and are the league's stars, but the result of a game should not hinge on a play where a defensive lineman taps the quarterback’s helmet.

The Straight Arm

Why are ball carriers allowed to touch and grab the facemask of defensive players when implementing the straight arm? This infraction is rarely called.

Fair Catch Radius

Is the fair catch radius ever enforced on punts? I only see this penalty called when the punt returner is tackled after calling for a fair catch. The radius should be expanded to 2 yards and actually enforced.