The NFL Competition Committee today is expected to continue discussions on the "league's celebration rules" in a joint session that includes current and former players as well as NFLPA reps. The topic has already been broached during the committee's annual meetings at the scouting combine in Indianapolis, and there is a "strong sense that changes are coming to clarify the rules, focusing in part on the duration of some acts." There were 30 "demonstration penalties" in '16, up from 29 in '14 and '15 combined (USA TODAY, 3/1).
The committee also is discussing "two proposals that would significantly alter officiating – whether to make referees full-time employees and how to centralize the replay review system." There is "increasing support for both ideas." Centralized review "would presumably be operated" out of the league's officiating HQ in N.Y. (NFL.com, 2/28). Falcons President Rich McKay, the committee's Chair, said that driving the discussion is the "desire to have more consistency between crews" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 3/1).
