Things football should adopt from rugby
The Rugby World Cup ended a while ago, but I watched a lot of the games and never got around to posting about 2 things I really liked that football could adopt.
1. Mic the refs. You can hear the head rugby ref basically at all times during a match. You can see how and why he calls things the way he does. Or how a couple of borderline non-calls turn into actual calls after they accumulate a bit. It's amazing for transparency. My friends who know rugby had nothing bad to say about the refs during any matches. Don't we all feel better when refs give detailed explanations for calls or for picking up a flag? Even if you don't agree you usually can see what they were thinking. Trying to hide the refs' decision-making when those decisions sometimes seem ludicrous just gives the impression football is trying to hide their stupidity. What's the harm in it? Also, we wouldn't need the mics live at all times. But at least the broadcast could replay what refs are saying or let us listen to what they're saying live when it's relevant to viewers.
2. Extra points should be kicked from where the TD is scored horizontally across the field. In rugby, when you score a try (which is essentially a touchdown), where you score horizontally is where your conversion (extra point kick) is from. In rugby you actually need to touch the ball down to score, and if a guy runs free into the "end zone", you'll see him run towards the center and touch it down there so the conversion is dead on instead of from a tough angle. The NFL backed up extra points just to make them harder. It didn't feel like a very natural extension of the game. It still looks weird to me, especially since I watch way more college. But moving extra points to the sides in cases where you score TDs in the corner would make things more interesting and makes sense. This could be implemented a number of ways. Teams maybe don't have to snap and kick literally from the sideline, perhaps 5 yards in. Also it'd actually make protection easier if you don't really have to worry about guys coming from one side to block. You could also allow teams to kick from farther back if the angle is difficult.
December 20th, 2019 at 11:34 PM ^
You forgot "have both teams meet up after the game, get drunk off their ass, and have a battle of obscene songs sing-off."
December 21st, 2019 at 8:00 AM ^
A rugby drink up is probably one of the funnest things I’ve experienced in sports.
December 21st, 2019 at 12:02 PM ^
The post-match piss-up is indeed a thing of beauty.
December 21st, 2019 at 12:02 PM ^
Don't forget the Rugby Queen!
December 20th, 2019 at 11:37 PM ^
TL;DR
Merry Christmas, ya filthy animals.
December 20th, 2019 at 11:44 PM ^
More laterals.
December 20th, 2019 at 11:54 PM ^
MOAR CAULIFLOWER EAR
December 21st, 2019 at 12:17 AM ^
I saw one suggestion somewhere that an extra point can only be kicked by whoever is on the field when a td is scored. That seems like an entertaining option.
December 21st, 2019 at 12:36 AM ^
Get rid of hard helmets, hard pads, and facemasks.
December 21st, 2019 at 7:30 AM ^
don, looking at your avatar that doesn't seem like the best idea. just sayin'....
December 21st, 2019 at 9:43 AM ^
I know none of this is going to happen, but at the minimum I think facemasks and cages should be eliminated.
One of the paradoxical effects of the continuous elaboration of head protection is that it's given players the freedom to use their heads as leading weapons. If you watch videos of games from the 1950s, you'll see almost nobody leading with their heads, which was rational since nobody had anything more than a single bar across the face of the helmet, if that. Leading with your helmet was tantamount to leading with your face.
December 21st, 2019 at 10:01 AM ^
i understand the argument for no face masks, and on one level it really does make sense. however, the game and the bodies playing it have evolved so much and every yard counts and i can see many bad outcomes because of that. the game is 'like' rugby, but is fundamentally different where you have a 4th and 1, for instance. there is no comparable plunge in rugby. a scrum isn't close to that (not that its like picking daisies) and we're not going back to the '50's when the players were paid less than a used car salesman.
December 21st, 2019 at 12:38 AM ^
How about rugby's lack of commercials. That would be number 1. TD commercial Touchback commercial is brutal. Football will always be #1 for me, but World Cup Rugby is great.
December 21st, 2019 at 4:31 AM ^
True. But that also has nothing to do with the rules or how the game is played and is simply a money grab because people will still watch.
December 21st, 2019 at 1:07 AM ^
No more game stoppages for an injured player who is 10yds out of bounds
December 21st, 2019 at 3:32 AM ^
Rugby is way ahead of most sports with head injury assessments, the referee and replay can both send a player off to be checked for head injury. And they're required to be off for 10 min even if they're ok..
December 21st, 2019 at 7:33 AM ^
the mandatory 10 minute walk-off is a great idea. right up until john o'neil sends off [fill in U of M superstar name here] and this blog loses all semblance of civilization and we have to talk guys off of bell towers who are lining up for a shot at said referee.
December 21st, 2019 at 10:41 PM ^
to be fair though 10 min in football time could be 4:30 of commercial break time.
Rugby is a mostly running clock
December 21st, 2019 at 8:20 AM ^
I love the 'mic the refs' option. This would dramatically change the game - does anyone think things may have been a bit different if the 2016 refs were mic'd in that huge shit hole? If nothing, the transparency would eliminate a LOT of complaining by both teams and fans, and would go a long way towards improving officiating across the sport.
The extra point thing, though... No thanks on that! The hash marks keep the playbooks wide open. If you were to confine an offense simply by forcing to work from a sideline, there wouldn't be any scoring. Trying to force them to a sideline to score would be relatively easy - put every defensive player in the middle and just force them wide. It would certainly (mostly) eliminate the extra point, but would also significantly alter the game - in a bad way, IMO...
December 21st, 2019 at 10:40 AM ^
On the contrary it adds another layer of strategy. It could make things more interesting. The extra points wouldn’t necessarily be gimmes and it may entice more 2 pt conversions.
December 21st, 2019 at 7:28 PM ^
I'm saying on extra points only. You'd still have the normal hashmarks for regular play.
December 21st, 2019 at 9:26 AM ^
It's too bad Tyler Ecker never played any rugby.
December 21st, 2019 at 11:53 AM ^
I yelled the same . . . but profanity laced . . . at my TV as Eckert missed an easy offload to Breaston for the TD.
December 21st, 2019 at 9:55 AM ^
(1) Tackling. Make the tackler at least attempt to "wrap up" the ball carrier. A tackle should always involve the arms, and the force should always be entirely below the neck of the ball carrier.
(2) Equipment. Don mentioned it above, but I think football would be much safer and would not be any less fun to watch if hard exterior padding of all kinds were banned.
(3) Video review. Rugby manages to complete a video review in 30 seconds or less. And, as the OP points out, all of the communications between the referee and the replay official are broadcast live on the air, so everybody knows what the referee called, how he saw it, and what the replay official decides.
December 21st, 2019 at 10:07 AM ^
#1 and #2 for sure. Any tackle should require a wrap up (or an attempt at one)- this would make football so much safer. I say this anytime safety and football come up.
My biggest regret (in athletics) is not playing rugby sooner.
December 21st, 2019 at 10:22 AM ^
Re #2, a punt-out to set-up the XP kick after TD used to be the rule in Football, until 1920. https://www.nytimes.com/1920/03/14/archives/football-rules-committee-abolishes-puntout-to-make-goal-after.html
December 21st, 2019 at 10:35 AM ^
The player who scored the touchdown should kick the PAT.
Placekickers can still be used for field goals, but every player should have to kick PATs. It would be interesting to see.
The other thing we should learn from rugby/soccer is to cut down on TV timeouts, but good luck with that...
December 21st, 2019 at 11:15 AM ^
I like it.
1) I'm not an expert on rugby by any means but from what I understand there is rarely a problem/controversy w officiating. It seems like no sport has consistently great officiating like rugby; the refs rarely seem to be a factor.
2) I love the touching the ball down idea. It feels more real and legit than a guy reaching a ball over an imaginary plane.
I'm surprised no team has developed a wacky end of game rugby-style play to keep the ball alive while moving it forward. It probably wouldn't work because there would be no offsides but I'd like to see someone experiment with it.
Also - drop kicks.
December 21st, 2019 at 11:59 AM ^
Regarding end of game desperation plays, I think about that every time I see it. Rugby style passing and spacing could be effective, but as you mention the lack of offsides would eliminate any type of rucking/mauling as the defenders don't have to go "through the gate".
December 21st, 2019 at 12:32 PM ^
At least teach the rest of the players to line up behind the ball carrier so they can accept passes that are parallel/behind the line. And the ball carrier should make sure to place the ball down (or even purposely fumble it backwards) as he's getting tackled so a teammate could come pick it up and pass it and keep it moving. That would keep the play alive and might make these desperation plays more interesting. And it might even give them a better chance of succeeding. I would love to see a coach introduce these ideas/elements - might as well! I definitely think there is a way to do it. The first coach to figure it out would be hailed as a genius. Harbaugh, give us a call.
December 21st, 2019 at 12:47 PM ^
You could even send out a hands team of RBs, TEs and WRs, maybe one FB or lineman to throw some blocks and rucks here and there. But there would be nothing stopping you from putting a team of all skill players on the field, right? As long as you have enough players on the line when the ball is snapped? You could have 11 guys on the field - 9 of whom have good hands, can handle the ball and have good-to-great speed.
I'm thinking a lot about this now...