Polian and Manning complain - NFL listen - Whats new?

eagle eye

Peyton Manning complained, the NFL listened and now the league is making additional tweaks to the umpire rule.
All 32 teams were told in a memo from the league Tuesday that the umpire will position himself 12 yards from the line of scrimmage when the ball is snapped instead of approximately 15 yards, which was used during the preseason. The umpires must now only get beyond the deepest running back -- not established in position -- before the ball can be snapped.
The changes should make it easier for teams to use the no-huddle offense. That should please Manning, who expressed his frustration after an Aug. 26 loss at Green Bay.
"The one [illegal snap] on me I thought was ridiculous, down there by the goal line when you're snapping the ball to keep them from potentially getting a replay," Manning said then. "Also, they [umpires] are unsettled. To throw a 5-yard penalty is absolutely ridiculous in my opinion. So I think that's one thing that will be re-evaluated -- at least a do-over of some sort, or a warning. But a 5-yard penalty? That's ridiculous."
The league apparently agreed.
Officials will now have the discretion to issue a warning before enforcing the 5-yard penalty for an illegal snap. Clear violations, the memo said, will continue to be penalized without a warning.
Umpires also will continue to be positioned in the middle of the defense, their old position, during the final two minutes of the first half, the final five minutes of the game and when the offense is at, or inside, the opponent's 5-yard line. The league made that change for last week's preseason finales.
The memo also points out that the head linesman or line judge can signal when the ball can be snapped instead of having quarterbacks checking with referees, something that was changed after the league's competition committee approved the new rule in March.
League officials have repeatedly cited safety concerns as the reason for moving umpires behind the deepest running back, saying statistics showed a significant increase in the number of collisions and injuries incurred by umpires.
"It reached the point where the league office thought that the physical danger out there and the safety of the umpire was becoming an issue, so we changed his position," Colts president Bill Polian said recently. "We recognized that there would be, A, mechanical issues, and B, issues with respect to certain penalties that might or might not be called based upon the new position."
But after Manning insisted changes were needed, Polian said they were solvable.
Now the four-time league MVP and Polian are willing to see if this works.
"We'll see," Manning said last week during the annual bowling tournament he hosts to raise money for the Peyback Foundation.
The league said referees and umpires will meet Friday in Dallas to review the preseason and the mechanics of the changes to the umpire rule. The officials for Thursday night's opener will review the material during a conference call this week.
Manning was not available Tuesday, the Colts' regular off-day, but is expected to comment on the changes Wednesday. Polian declined to comment.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=5542758&campaign=rss&source=ESPNHeadlines

davyjose

If you did your homework, you'd see that the NFL had always intended on tweaking the rules. Ten days ago, Mike Pereira was on Fox Sports explaining why the rule needed changes.

Mike Pereira wrote:

During Friday’s meeting among the officials, a couple of things have to be decided:

How is the quarterback going to be notified that the officials are in position? I don’t agree with what they’re doing right now, which is to have the head linesman or the line judge raise his hand and the quarterback has to look at the sideline. That’s not what he’s used to looking at. He’s used to looking at the defense. So I really think, in my mind, they have to go to the referee and have him give a “chop” of the whistle as soon as he sees that the officials are in their normal position.
Then, they have to decide, what is the normal position? To me, the normal position is to just get beyond the deepest back. I think if you do that, and not wait until the guy gets 12 or 15 yards, I think you’ll eliminate the problem.
I think when the referees and the umpires get together later this week, and when the competition committee probably has a phone meeting about it, they’ll figure it out. They’ll get it set up more quickly.

And it will all get ironed out.

You're criticising Polian -- Polian backed changes. He subsequently said that the changes weren't in line with what he supported. Is he not allowed do that? I really don't get what your problem is?
You're also criticising Manning for complaining about (what reasonably should have been) completely legitimate plays.

None of that matters though; your thread is antagonistic, and tbh, all you've done is copied and pasted someone elses article to get in a quick dig at a team that you don't like!

tallaghtoutlaws

I have to say everyone knows the new Umpire positioning is ridiculous. So if Polian and Manning want it fixed so be it. Nothing wrong calling the NFL out for a new rule brought in which is ridiculous at best.

To add I wouldn't say they were the only ones to lodge a complaint either.

Chucky the tree

Hmmm tasty....

eagle eye

Whats that Chucky, nothing to post but a picture. Polian said a couple of days ago that this rule wouldn't affect the Colts, then Manning cries blue murder and he changes his position on it. Now the rule has been changed. This is a member of the competitions committee doing whats best for his team not the NFL. Everybody said that it would take quite a few regular season games to decide if this new rule would need tweeking. As for reporters, do you read what they have to say on it? Here are the words of two respected reporters.

Mike Florio

Colts president Bill Polian has a reputation for using his position on the Competition Committee to push rule changes aimed at assisting his team in some way.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2010/03/21/stats-changed-polians-mind-on-overtime-rules/

Mike Reiss

As a member of the NFL's competition committee, Colts president Bill Polian would presumably be a part of any discussion regarding the change/alteration of this rule. That conflict of interest should be taken into account before any decisions are made.

http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/new-england-patriots/post/_/id/4682314/will-nfl-alter-rule-after-colt-complaints

jdivision

It's a stupid change. Completely unnecessary - you don't umpire unless you realise you might get the odd bang. It's part of the game. Having said that the last person that ran into me when I was umpire bounced off me and landed on his ass

tallaghtoutlaws

jdivision wrote: »

It's a stupid change. Completely unnecessary - you don't umpire unless you realise you might get the odd bang. It's part of the game. Having said that the last person I ran into me when I was umpire bounced off me and landed on his ass

That happened me in the Cork/Trojans game. WR cutting across the middle and he swiped me and fell over and then got up claiming he was pushed in the back haha Had to break the bad news to him that him clipped me.:D