Dak Prescott nearly made a costly mistake during the opening coin toss of last week’s game against the Los Angeles Rams, but the NFL did the right thing by stepping in to remedy the situation. Now, the league may take steps to prevent anything similar from happening in the future.
The NFL could simplify the rules regarding what players must say in order to defer after winning the coin toss, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports. As of now, a team captain must say the word “defer” when choosing whether his team wants to receive the opening kick or defer to the second half. Dak Prescott said “kick” last week initially, which almost resulted in the Rams being able to receive in both the first half and second half.
Audio shared by FOX showed that Prescott said the Cowboys wanted to “kick” at first before quickly correcting himself and saying they choose to defer. Referee Walt Anderson initially held Prescott to it, but the NFL stepped in at halftime and allowed Dallas to receive in the second half. Given what we saw with the audio FOX showed, that was clearly the right move.
There isn’t a single person who didn’t know what Prescott meant when he said “kick,” so it would be wise of the NFL to simplify the rules. No team should ever get the ball to start the first and second half just because a player used the wrong word when winning the coin toss.
