How Would You Change the NFL?

obviously have roger goodell and all the owners (minus the city of green bay) slow-roasted, outlaw public financing of stadiums, etc. but mainly interested in changes to how the game is played

five downs? get rid of helmets or facemasks? no more field goals? successful drop-kick means you win the game? go

stop fining players for celebrating and fashion choices

the idea that getting rid of helmets altogether ought to be a big step towards making the game safer seems to have eroded recently. rugby has has some attention because of concussions recently, and it looks like the main factor is collision at speed, which i guess is why kick returning is being killed off. up front - with the most recurrent contact, and where you might think helmets would have the biggest impact positive or negative - is where rugby has its biggest problems, in particular spine injuries.

so to be significantly safer, football has to eliminate big, fast, hard hits. problem is, how the hell do you do that and still have football? can you actually take tackling out of the game? pass only offense, play is dead on a reception or turnover, flag rules for qbs/sacks... inevitably the game won't get safer past a certain point and its survival will be about peoples' attitudes to that base level, whether there is such opposition that people won;t watch it anymore, or more likely no one lets their kids play it any more; or only poor people do, and then yknow, rollerball was set in 2018, we are almost there.

fines for celebrating/fashion are so transparently racist that there has to be a 180 on that at some point.

a couple years ago i would've said eliminate the point after but it is a legit highlight now thanks to all the misses. punting is a great strategic element but you could probably get rid of that for a net improvement in safety/fan experience. field goals to a lesser extent, i think they are still good value. maybe change to 2 pts, but 3 vs 6/7 plays very well imo.

bye weeks before Thursday night games would be nice.

2 pt FG sounds like a bad idea - you would almost never want to kick them - but it would make the game a bit more exciting

field goals in general are a really weird thing. can't think of anything in another sport quite like them.

legislate that pre-game shows can be no longer than 15 minutes and impose a total media blackout policy the rest of the week

no recreational drug tests for players. harsh fines and bans for players convicted of violent crimes.

get rid of PATs #xfl

I would forbid coaches or players on the sideline from calling plays or defenses during a game, requiring players on the field to make those decisions.

allow coaches to challenge penalties

no more radio helmets
shorter play clock
no more london games
no more jacksonville jaguars
trim the rosters in such a fashion that regular players have to do the kicking/punting

xp oh hell no

get rid of thursday night football

xps to aimless - that's kind of interesting. taking it a step further you could eliminate the huddle entirely and reduce the play clock. force a more up-tempo game. maybe give a few more timeouts to balance, or a difference type of timeout like basketball. it's really leaning into the play quality problems by exacerbating them but emphasizing entertainment above all, which tbh should be catnip to nfl suits. enough so that i am surprised it hasn't already happened. prob afraid of belichick slitting their throats in their sleep.

should be catnip to nfl suits. enough so that i am surprised it hasn't already happened.

the nfl suits won't make any changes that major, for fear of killing the goose that lays the golden eggs. but I think it would make it more of a players' league, which appeals more to fans than a coaches' league, which it tends toward now.

get rid of PATs #xfl

― harold melvin and the bluetones (jim in vancouver)

i agree, fuck boston

from kevin clark on the ringer, i think these are legit

Punish Teams That Punt
We can’t make NFL coaches less conservative by showing them the data. For years, they’ve had data that support going for it on fourth-and-short, yet they’ve largely remained unmoved. Sixty-three times already this season, a team has punted on fourth down with 5 or fewer yards to go inside the opponent’s half of the field or at the 50-yard line. That’s insanity. Luckily, there’s been a crumb of justice: 12 times, those teams have punted the ball into the end zone for a touchback. The Giants have done it on both of their attempts. But a touchback isn’t enough of a deterrent. Teams that touch back on a punt should have the ball placed at the 35 instead of the 20. That’d solve it.

Change the Roster Rules
Why was Arizona’s 28–3 win over the Jets two weeks ago so depressing? Ryan Fitzpatrick was awful, but he was replaced by Geno Smith, who’s also bad. The Jets had no other choice, because as of now, only 46 of the 53 players on an NFL roster are active on game day. Third- and fourth-string quarterbacks Bryce Petty and Christian Hackenberg were inactive, depriving the Jets of the opportunity for reckless experimentation.
ALL players on the roster should become active in the fourth quarter. Inserting younger players (even if they’re bad, which Petty and Hackenberg surely are) for a few plays in a blowout would introduce a curiosity factor, and at least give fans something to watch.
I’d also expand rosters to include practice squad players in December.

"ALL players on the roster should become active in the fourth quarter. Inserting younger players (even if they’re bad, which Petty and Hackenberg surely are) for a few plays in a blowout would introduce a curiosity factor, and at least give fans something to watch.
I’d also expand rosters to include practice squad players in December."

oooh, I like this

the touchback idea seems kinda dumb though. I don't like the idea of saving coaches from themselves.