Major changes to the NFL rules are notoriously rare, in part because of how much agreement is necessary to actually change anything. However, the league’s current overtime rules could prove to be an exception.
Competition committee chairman Rich McKay admitted Friday that there is “a lot of momentum” for changing the NFL’s overtime rules, though he cautioned that getting the 24 votes needed to make a change remains difficult.
“I think my history on this rule tells me that 24 votes is not easy to get,” McKay said, via Kevin Seifert of ESPN. “But I do think the statistics absolutely warrant an examination of whether overtime rules need to be further modified.”
One factor could be how wide-ranging the changes are. McKay said some teams prefer changing the overtime rules for playoff games only and leaving the regular season the way it is.
The last change to overtime rules came in 2010, when the current format was implemented for playoff games. The regular season eventually adopted the same rules in 2012. However, the dramatic AFC Divisional game between the Chiefs and Bills has at least raised the prospect of potential changes.
Photo: Apr 29, 2021; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; NFL commissioner Roger Goodell announces the final pick of the 2021 NFL Draft for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at First Energy Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
