Last year, the NFL implemented a new rule that allows referees to eject players based on on-field conduct. The league now appears primed to expand on such a notion. In fact, the NFL may now pivot toward adding a rule that would be similar to college football's targeting regulation.
The NFL Competition Committee is currently mulling over such a decision.
“By Competition Committee; to amend Rule 15, Section 1, Article 5 to allow League personnel to disqualify for both flagrant football and non-football acts,” reads the NFL's reported proposal, via NBC Sports' Pro Football Talk.
Obviously, player safety should remain at the forefront of the game while this new rule would surely help prevent vicious hits in the future.
“Currently, the league office may eject players only for flagrant non-football acts, such as incidents that occur after a play,” writes Mike Florio of NBC Sports' Pro Football Talk. “The new proposal would allow the league office to eject players for flagrant violations of the playing rules, such as striking a defenseless player in the head or neck area or lowering the helmet and ramming an opponent.”
While these types of plays are definitely seen more in the college game than at the NFL level, protecting the players remains vital nonetheless. With the NFL currently locked in a controversy over whether hits to the head — and playing the game of football in general — cause long-term effects, the league should continue to do everything in its power to keep its players safe and healthy.
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