BOO of the Week 9/15

This week sure had it share of people in the sporting world doing dumb things. The easy boo would be the Brewers organization for firing their manager with two weeks to go, or even Ed "Look at my arms in my tight shirt" Hochuli for botching the call in the Charger game. Instead I want to boo the NFL for a mistake they made in the off-season.

Every year the NFL examines the rules and decides what the changes will be for the upcoming season, and unlike Baseball they are not afraid to make big changes. This year the NFL decided that the face mask rule needed to be changed. In the past an accidental face mask was a 5 yard penalty and an intentional one was 15 yards. Starting this season the NFL decided that the 5 yard face mask would be no more and only intentional plays where the defender tries to twist the ball carriers head off will be penalized. There were a few other changes as well such as the elimination of the force out and the option to defer the opening kick.

The one change that the NFL did not make and is the most pressing issue is the penalty of roughing the passer. The basic idea of the rule is to protect the safety of the QB by not allowing the defense to hit him low or in the head, or hit the passer after he has released the ball. The idea of protecting the safety of the QB is in itself ridiculous. Besides being professional athletes and well paid, most QB's are big guys themselves. Is it fair that a Linebacker has to be worried about the "safety" of a guy like JaMarcus Russell who is 6'6 and 260lbs when they are trying to tackle him?

I do, however, understand the point that the QB is the marquee player on the field and the idea that his safety must be somewhat protected. The thing that I do not understand is why every roughing the passer call has to be a personal foul and 15 yards. Everyone who has ever watched a NFL game has seen a play where the defender could not stop his momentum and hit the QB a second after he threw the ball. The next thing that we see is the yellow laundry and what was a 3rd down stop all of a sudden becomes a 15 yard gain for the offense and an automatic 1st down. We then get to see the replay and realize the defender did not maliciously hit the QB and even tried to hold him up, but it does not matter because it a personal foul.

The change the NFL absolutely needed to make in the off season was giving the refs the option to call a 5 yard penalty as well as a 15 yard personal foul on roughing the passer calls. The rules for protecting the kicker are simple: 5 yards for running into him and 15 for roughing him. The same rule needs to be applied for the Quarterback.

I am sick of a big play in a game decided because the defender fell into the QB or was too afraid to tackle him because of fear of 15 yards (All you Giant fans will remember Mathias Kiwanuka did not finish the tackle on Vince Young).

The solution to this bad rule is right in front of their face and will continue to impact games until the NFL changes it. For not even attempting to fix this I call personal foul on the NFL and penalize them with...

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!