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On Sunday night, Seahawks linebacker Bobby Wagner defied gravity, and normal human intuition, twice.
In the first half of Seattle's game against the Cardinals, Wagner successfully leapt over Arizona's long snapper and blocked a field goal. He made the jump again in overtime, distracting Cardinals kicker Chandler Catanzaro enough to miss what would've been the game-winning field goal.
With a couple days to digest the plays, Arizona head coach Bruce Arians wants the NFL to consider banning leaping over long snappers on field goals. He insists it's not because it hurt his team this week. Rather, Arians believes it's a player-safety issue.
The current rule states that opposing players can't make contact with long snappers while their heads are down. On replay, Wagner's foot appears to brush the center's back, but the officials didn't see it, and no flag was thrown.
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“Bad for football”
Regardless of whether a penalty should've been called or not, Arians wants the practice to be thrown out altogether. From Late Hits on SiriusXM NFL Radio:
“The Competition Committee went through that play and officials wanted it taken out,” Arians said. “The committee left it in, but it cannot be officiated. Whether he touches, whether it was leverage, was his foot within the framework of the defensive lineman’s feet before he jumped, all those things that go into that call, I think it’s bad for football.
The current rule was put into place to protect long snappers, but if leaping continues to be allowed, Arians foresees it becoming dangerous:
“What you’re going to have to do now is start having centers raise their face up and get kicked in the face and things that are just dangerous to the players. I think it’s a dangerous play as it is and should be taken out of the game.”
