Could NFL allow replay assist for facemask penalty calls?
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell speaks with the media. Photo Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
The NFL is once again suggesting openness to allowing for a rather significant set of penalties to be subject to replay review.
NFL executive vice president Troy Vincent said Wednesday that the league’s competition committee would discuss making facemask calls subject to replay assist. Vincent added that it would be up to members of the committee to determine how blatant a flag would have to be for replay assist to intervene.
A potential big change: NFL exec Troy Vincent says the competition committee will discuss expanding replay assist to include certain penalties such as facemasks.
What would the standard be to put down a flag from upstairs? “That appetite will have to come from the membership.”
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) December 11, 2024
Obviously, this is a very preliminary idea and there would be a lot to sort out before it became a reality. The early reviews for replay assist have been positive, though, and if it could be expanded to certain penalties without disrupting the game, that seems like an obvious solution. Officiating crews certainly seem to need some help on facemasks, as there have been a few bad ones missed in 2024.
The risk is that it winds up working a lot like the NFL’s brief experiment with pass interference did. Most of the calls went unchanged even when challenged. In theory, facemask calls are slightly less subjective than pass interference, which could ensure that they are handled differently.
