On this day in United States history, the 21st Amendment was passed on December 5, 1933 to repeal Prohibition. Or in other words, the greatest day ever! At least, that's the Cliffs Notes version passed on by Ali Spagnola.
It also got me thinking about the NFL and some of the rules I would like to repeal, or alter by passing an amendment. Basically, a few things to make the NFL just a little bit better.
And without further ado:
Rules we could do without:
Maintaining the catch
You know the rule I'm talking about. The one where a receiver must maintain control of the ball all the way through the catch. The one that cost Calvin Johnson a few years ago when he caught a touchdown pass, but it was ruled incomplete around the time when he got up and made his way to the sideline for some Gatorade. Honestly, it's a dumb rule. How long does a receiver have to hold on to the ball? I mean, at some point, a receiver has to go home. Does he still need to maintain the ball through that too? He's either caught it or not, move on.
The Bert Emanuel Rule
I'd never say this within earshot of Warren Sapp, but Bert Emanuel dropped the ball in the 1999 NFC Championship Game. And every receiver who has allowed any part of the ball to touch the ground hasn't really caught it. Seriously, if you had to explain to somebody why the play above with Calvin Johnson wasn't a catch, but this was, they'd never believe you.
Let's go back to school:
Numbers
The NFL made a switch a number of years ago to allow receivers to wear numbers from 10 to 19, while the position group was previously restricted to 80 to 89. And guess what, the NFL didn't collapse. If anything, the league has become more popular since that time. Now, I won't kid myself and say it's because of the rule change, but you'll never be able to convince me otherwise.
Let's just put common sense into this and allow players to wear whatever number they please. Haven't you seen how cool Devin Gardner looks as he rocks that No. 98 as the quarterback for Michigan? It's awesome. And seriously, get this worked out before Jadeveon Clowney gets into the NFL so he can wear No. 7 for the St. Louis FC. Even better, Reggie Bush can wear No. 5 for the Detroit Lions.
Overtime
College does jersey numbers better, and it also does overtime better. Even the NHL does overtime better than the NFL. And NHL overtime is terrible. Well, the shootout is kind of cool. But, come on, we can redo the NFL overtime. Maybe start from the 40-yard line and go from there. But, don't let these games end in a tie. Just don't.
Start a rivalry week
No division games should occur in the first month of the season. Instead, everybody plays their chief division rival in Week 5 during "Rivalry Week" and boom, you have the most-anticipated regular season week of football each year.
Embrace technology:
Facemasks
We were on the verge of a golden age of NFL facemasks, but we just couldn't have it. Seriously, what is the harm if an NFL player wants to have a mask similar to Lando from Episode VI? I think that would be kind of cool. Let 'em go wild.
Referees with friggin' lasers
How many times has a casual fan asked you why the players don't try harder for the yellow line? And then you have to explain to them it's only on television. But, doesn't that seem weird? I mean, Amazon thinks it's going to have drones delivering packages to your door in the next five years, and we can't put a laser on the field to illuminate the first-down line? Anybody have an explanation for this?
Microchips in footballs
And this last rule change just needs to happen:
Repeal the bye week
Well, we shouldn't repeal the bye week. Rather, we should be smarter about it and amend it. The Green Bay Packers had a bye in Week 4, and honestly, it might cost them a playoff berth because the team looks beat up. But, there is a very simple solution for this. Bye weeks should only occur during Weeks 9-12, with two divisions rotating bye weeks each week for the entire month. For instance, the AFC and NFC West take off Week 9, AFC and NFC South in Week 10, etc. And then they rotate each year. How is that not the best idea ever?
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