Leaping block attempts on field goals, extra points banned

[Boris13c]

Leaping block attempts on field goals, extra points banned by NFL

PHOENIX -- NFL owners formally banned players from leaping over the line of scrimmage to block kicks and approved a plan to centralize replay review decisions to the league office, the highlights of a flurry of votes Tuesday at their annual meeting.

The league's competition committee joined players in expressing concerns about the safety risks of the leaping strategy that proliferated last season. Although it didn't happen in 2016, they feared a player could be flipped in the air by blockers as they rose from their stances and land awkwardly. The strategy will be expressly barred in the 2017 NFL rule book.

The final say for replay decisions will rest with senior vice president of officiating Dean Blandino or a member of his supervisory staff, all of whom watch games from a Command Center in New York City. Referees will follow the conversation on a video tablet, rather than using a sideline "hood," a move that in reality is a formalization of the process the league has used since the Command Center was established to aid referees in 2014.

In other business Tuesday, the NFL:

• Approved a rule prohibiting teams from committing multiple fouls on the same play in an effort to manipulate the game clock, thwarting a strategy used last season by both the San Francisco 49ers and Baltimore Ravens.

• Made permanent a rule to automatically eject players from games after they commit two of a certain type of unsportsmanlike conduct penalties.

• Approved for one more season the experiment to put touchbacks at the 25-yard line after kickoffs.

[Rusty Trombagent]

i cant exactly put my finger on it, but for some reason the leaping blocks have always annoyed the shit out of me. even the successful ones that have lead to wild swings.

maybe i just hate fun, but i'm glad they're banned.