Weird or Obscure NFL Rules

[infrared41]

My favorite is the one that says "even though every rational person on planet Earth would call it a catch, it's still not a catch." I think the layman term for it is the "Calvin Johnson rule."

[See Red]

Right. A player giving a fair catch and blocking someone else is given a personal foul, because it's sort of a cheap shot. He gives up, then goes to hit/block a gunner who is probably slowing down and taking himself out of the play because of the fair catch signal.

It's also a penalty if one person gives a fair catch signal and a teammate catches the kick and attempts to return it.

The 15-yarder was called recently, I think it was within the last 2 or 3 weeks of the regular season.

Yes, that's the only reason I knew it, actually. It definitely makes sense that that's the reason for it.

[The_Admiral]

Weird or Obscure NFL Rules

How about just listing the past ten offseasons of rule changes

[DolphinManatee]

How about the drop kick?

Drop Kick

[Mac the Knife]

The 2011 revisions to protect players were fairly significant, particularly in how the casebook is arranged.

Frankly though, the rules and the casebook read like stereo instructions. The whole thing hasn't undergone a total re-write in who knows how long, and as a result amendments seem to just be plugged in wherever it seems most appropriate. Without making any substantive changes they should probably go in and recodify the rules from top to bottom.

[drdougfresh]

+1 to the Calvin Johnson rule. I'm still pissed about that. Use the Duck Rule: looks like a duck, sounds like a duck, waddles like a duck... it's a duck.

Same with catches.

[njmeadowlanders]

Can someone explain the "10 second runoff" rule?

It's basically so that you don't intentionally commit a minor penalty in order to get the clock to stop. I don't know the exact rule, but basically if you're behind and driving down the field at the end of the game and commit a penalty (like a false start for example), you either get charged a time out or get a 10-second run off. Chances are that you won't have any time outs, so you lose time in your effort to come back. Otherwise, teams would just have guys jump offsides because 5 yards is pretty meaningless compared to the benefit of an extra time out.

To add to that, to be nit-pickingly specific:

- Obviously the clock must be running. If the clock is stopped there's no runoff.

- You don't automatically get charged a timeout to avoid it if you have it. The coach can decide what to do.

- The penalty is still enforced. I.e. you're guilty of a false start and call the T.O. to avoid the runoff, but the 5 yards are still walked off.