NFL embraces zero, passes on roughing reviews
There will be no assist from the replay booth when it comes to the NFL’s roughing the passer rule.
The league’s 32 teams declined to adopt a proposal from the Los Angeles Rams that would have allowed coaches to ask for a replay booth review of the often-controversial call. It was one of several potential changes discussed at the league’s annual meetings on Tuesday in Phoenix.
Rich McKay — the NFL’s Competition Committee chairman — said the league’s brief 2019 experiment that allowed replay booth review of pass interference calls weighed heavily in the process. The rule was reversed in 2020.
“There are a lot of issues that go into it,” said McKay, who is also the Atlanta Falcons CEO. “It is a dramatic and almost drastic change of officiating, taking it from the field, up to the booth.
“It wasn’t a long discussion and then we voted and it did not pass.”
The list of changes Tuesday was relatively minor. Among them: Tightening rules on helmet blows by eliminating the “butt, ram, spear” language that McKay said allowed several players to escape fines.
Also, most NFL players now have a new choice when selecting their jersey number — zero. All players — excluding offensive and defensive linemen — can now select No. 0 if they choose. New Jaguars receiver Calvin Ridley announced he would be among those who would wear No. 0 next season.
Two $6b bids for Commanders
Dan Snyder’s departure from the NFL is moving closer to reality. A group led by Josh Harris and Mitchell Rales, and another group led by Canadian billionaire Steve Apostolopoulos, have formally submitted fully financed bids for the NFL’s Washington Commanders, according to a person with knowledge of the situation.
Two people confirmed the bid from Harris, whose group includes basketball Hall of Famer Magic Johnson. Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta also has been in the running.
ESPN reported both bids came in at Snyder’s $6 billion asking price.
Harris, who owns the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers and NHL’s New Jersey Devils, brought on Rales, a billionaire who also grew up in Maryland, earlier this year. Johnson, who has ownership experience with Major League Baseball’s Los Angeles Dodgers and others, later joined the group.
Apostolopoulos is a Toronto native who went to Harvard and is the founder of a private equity venture company.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said Tuesday even if Snyder sells the franchise before an investigation into his organization’s conduct can be complete, any report will be made public.
Flex not coming to Thursdays
The NFL will not move to a flexible scheduling model for Thursday night games — at least for now. It has explored a method to adjust its Thursday schedule as the season progressed, giving teams a 15-day notice that their upcoming game would be moved from the weekend to Thursday. A resolution was passed that allows teams to play two Thursday games each season on short weeks . . . Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaFleur is preaching patience as he prepares for the likelihood of having Jordan Love rather than Aaron Rodgers as his starting quarterback. “Certainly I think we’re fooling ourselves if we think he’s going to go out there and perform at a level to the likes of what Aaron Rodgers [has done],” LaFleur said. “This guy is a once-in-a-lifetime, a generational talent. And I don’t think it necessarily started that way when he first started, you know. But he progressed into that. Like I said, it’s going to be a progression.”