The influence of NFL commissioner Roger Goodell will face a new test in the coming weeks as he seeks passage of two significant rule changes.
Team owners last week tabled votes on two potentially impactful rule shifts: a ban on the much-debated Tush Push, and a reseeding of playoff teams based strictly on regular-season records. The first potential change was proposed by the Packers, and the second by the Lions, but sources said Goodell is in favor of both, and is now working to secure additional support.
A possible Tush Push ban dominated chatter at last week’s NFL annual meeting, due in no small part to the Eagles’ perfection of the accentuated quarterback sneak en route to a Super Bowl LIX triumph. Owners are said to be split evenly on the issue. While opposition to the play has centered in large part on player safety concerns, no actual injuries were recorded last year from Tush Pushes. Instead, the real objection lies closer to aesthetic issues and a perceived similarity to a rugby play.
“I think there are safety issues that are being considered in that case,” Goodell said last week. “We have very little data from it, but it’s beyond data. There’s also the mechanism of the injury that we study, that type of thing, that leads us to show the risk involved with a particular play or a particular tackle.”
Goodell hinted at considering a return to pre-2004 rules, when players were not allowed to push or pull a ballcarrier.
The playoff seeding issue, meanwhile, carries many more economic implications, as it would potentially remove a guaranteed home game in the postseason for a division winner. One possible middle ground is a requirement to have a winning record in the regular season to get a home playoff game. The goal with the proposed switch would be to heighten the importance and appeal of late regular-season games.
“There’s great data to show that we should really look at some form of this,” said the commissioner, who called the Lions’ proposal a “very healthy” one.
Both issues are expected to be revisited at the NFL’s spring meeting, set for May 20–21 in Minnesota.
