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NFL to Try PAT Kicks From 20 for 2 Preseason Weeks

nfl_logo2011-medORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — The NFL will experiment with extra-point kicks from the 20-yard line for two weeks in the preseason this summer, but implementing longer PATs for the regular season has been tabled.

Team owners preferred to see how the longer extra points work in exhibition games before making any decisions on a permanent switch.

On Wednesday, the owners also rejected proposals to move kickoffs to the 40-yard line and to allow more than one player to be placed on injured reserve, then return to the roster during the season.

Adopted on the final day of the spring meetings were proposals to extend the length of the goalposts 5 feet to 35 feet to better determine if kicks are good, and no longer stopping the clock on sacks.

As expected, no vote was taken on expanding the playoffs, although the topic was discussed.

NFL to Tweak Replay Reviews

nfl_logo2011-medORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — The NFL officiating department will oversee replay reviews on challenged plays beginning next season.

League owners passed a rule Tuesday in which referees can consult with director of officiating Dean Blandino and his staff to help determine whether a call should be upheld or overturned.

Blandino and other staff will be monitoring the games, and they will immediately begin reviewing challenges before the referee even gets to his monitor. They then can make recommendations on what replays to look at, but the referee still will make the final decision.

Blandino believes the change will speed up the review process and help ensure the calls are made correctly.

Goodell, Union to Meet on Workplace Environment

nfl_logo2011-medORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Commissioner Roger Goodell says the NFL will meet on April 8 with the players union to discuss improving the workplace environment.

In the wake of the Miami Dolphins bullying scandal, league representatives have met with some 40 players in the last three months, as well as with the Dolphins and outside organizations, Goodell says Monday at the NFL owners meetings. The league is trying to get “as much input as possible. It’s more about people understanding the importance of a proper workplace.”

Goodell adds the focus is on medical evaluations of the players involved, including tackle Jonathan Martin, who left the Dolphins in the middle of last season, saying he was harassed by guard Richie Incognito. Martin was traded to the 49ers earlier this month.

NFL Gives $45 Million Youth Football Grant

nfl_logo2011-medORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — The NFL Foundation is giving USA Football a five-year, $45 million grant to expand the already burgeoning Heads Up Football program that teaches safe tackling to youngsters.

Foundation Chair Charlotte Jones Anderson announced the grant Monday at the league’s owners meetings after the NFL saw the early success of the program. Heads Up Football had nearly 2,800 youth football organizations teaching it during its first year, more than five times early projections.

Heads Up Football is designed to “take the head out of tackling” and employs master trainers who teach it to coaches throughout the nation. Those coaches in turn instruct youth football players — about 600,000 in 2013.

Funds also will be used to increase NFL flag football league for boys and girls ages 5-17

Busy Week Awaits NFL Owners at Spring Meetings

nfl_logo2011-medORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — As further proof the NFL never is far from the headlines, owners could make plenty of news this week at their spring meetings.

They will consider 13 playing rules proposals and seven bylaws. They will discuss expanding the playoff field from 12 to 14 teams, although a vote on such a move is uncertain.

Some changes would seem to be slam dunks: extending the height of the goal posts 5 feet to help determine if kicks are good; eliminating overtime in preseason games; placing fixed TV cameras on the goal lines, end lines and sidelines to help with replay reviews.

Others seem almost sidebars to the real action, such as from where to enforce defensive penalties when they occur behind the line of scrimmage, or extending pass interference calls to within a yard of the line.

Perhaps the juiciest suggestions came from the Patriots. They want to move the line of scrimmage to the 25 for extra points, and to allow coaches to challenge any calls except on scoring plays, which are automatically reviewed.

Passing those proposals would make for a major change in how NFL games are played.

“We discussed a lot of different scenarios that have been raised,” Rams coach Jeff Fisher, co-chairman of the influential competition committee, said of longer extra-point kicks. “I will point out … last year we had five tries missed (out of 1,267). I think four were blocked, one was missed. It’s still a competitive play.

“We are going to propose … to the membership during one of the preseason weeks that we move the extra point back to the 20-yard line and see how that goes. It’s on our radar.”

New England’s idea on coaches’ challenges in some ways echoes college football, in which every play can be reviewed. Falcons President Rich McKay, the other co-chairman of the competition committee, said reviews or challenges on defensive pass interference calls have been considered before.

“We’ve always shied away, as a committee, from penalties and the review of penalties for the most basic reason,” McKay said. “We didn’t want to put the referee in the position of using his subjective judgment on a play in place of the on-field official. We always thought the intent of replay, when it was put back in in 1998, was to deal with plays where there was an objective standard.”

Washington has proposed making personal foul penalties reviewable.

How replay reviews are conducted overall will be discussed after the committee has proposed allowing the referee to consult with members of the NFL officiating department. The process won’t change, but the command center in New York headed by director of officiating Dean Blandino will already be reviewing the play when the referee gets to the replay monitor.

“At the end of the day, what’s going to happen is we’re going to make sure that every single review is correct and we feel like this will speed up the instant replay process and timing,” Fisher said.

The Redskins want kickoffs moved to the 40 yard-line for “safety and historic consistency,” although doing so might totally eliminate returns. But some coaches hint it could lead to more pooch kicks, which wouldn’t make the kickoff any safer.

Another suggestion is to eliminate stopping the clock on a sack. That no longer is done in the final two minutes of each half, and if passed it will be totally eliminated.

The Redskins also proposed raising the number of active players on game day from 46 to 49 for games on any day but Sunday or Monday — not including opening weekend. Washington seeks an increase in the practice squad limit from eight to 10 players; allowing trades after the Super Bowl until when the league year begins in March; eliminating the first preseason roster cut to 75 and having just one cut to 53 at the end of the preseason; and allowing more than one player to return from injured reserve during the season after six weeks on the list.

NFL Faces New Concussion Case in Los Angeles

nfl_logo2011-medLOS ANGELES (AP) — The estate of NFL Hall of Famer Mike Webster and dozens of former players suing the league over concussion injuries have agreed to wait to see if their lawsuit will join other similar cases being reviewed by a judge for possible settlement.

Webster’s estate and 65 former players and their families are suing the NFL in Los Angeles. On Friday, attorneys for the players and the NFL agreed to stay the case to see if it should join other concussion lawsuits currently assigned to a judge in Pennsylvania.

That judge is considering whether a $765 million settlement is enough to resolve all claims against the NFL for players who are dealing with dementia and other serious cognitive conditions caused by concussions sustained during their pro careers.

Webster, who played for the Pittsburgh Steelers and Kansas City Chiefs, died in 2002. The NFL declined to comment on the Los Angeles case, which was filed in February.

NFL Concussion Lawyer Expects Case to Heat Up Soon

nfl_logo2011-medVILLANOVA, Pa. (AP) — The court fight over NFL concussions should heat up soon when a judge in Philadelphia weighs the fairness of the proposed $765 million settlement.

Lead players’ lawyer Sol Weiss expects the judge’s financial expert to advise her “shortly” on his view of the plan.

Senior U.S. District Judge Anita Brody will then hold a fairness hearing, when financial details will emerge.

Brody is concerned the fund won’t cover 20,000 retirees for 65 years. And critics say the NFL, with $9 billion in revenues, is getting off lightly.

The program would pay retirees as much as $5 million for the most serious neurological injuries.

Speaking Friday at Villanova University outside Philadelphia, Weiss says he’s confident the fund is sufficient. He believes most players will sign on rather than fight the NFL in court.

Vikings Host NFL Super Bowl Committee

nfl_logo2011-medMINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minnesota Vikings and the Twin Cities hosted members of the NFL this week to prepare their bid for the 2018 Super Bowl.

Frank Supovitz, the NFL’s senior vice president of events, toured the area and took a look at the plans for the new Vikings stadium. The Twin Cities are competing with New Orleans and Indianapolis for the bid. They will make their final pitches at an NFL owners meeting in May.

The Twin Cities previously hosted a Super Bowl in 1992.

Supovitz says building a new stadium doesn’t guarantee that a Super Bowl will come to Minneapolis. But he did note that the NFL has a history of rewarding communities that do build new stadiums with the league’s marquee event.

NFL Salary Cap Set at Record $133 Million

nfl_logo2011-medNEW YORK (AP) — The NFL’s salary cap for this season has been set at $133 million, the highest amount in league history.

Each team must be compliant with the cap number by March 11, when the league’s free agency period begins. The cap amount announced Friday, which applies to active players’ salaries, is up from $123 million last season and surpasses the previous high of $127,997,000 in 2009.

NFL teams can carry over unused salary cap room from the previous league year, and the NFLPA says in a release Friday that the average carryover for those teams that elected to do so was $6.1 million.

The league’s salary cap is calculated by taking a percentage of all projected NFL revenues, subtracting projected benefits for the season, and dividing by 32 teams.

Giants and Bills to Play in Hall of Fame Game

Pro Football Hall of FameNEW YORK (AP) — The Buffalo Bills and New York Giants will kick off the 2014 NFL preseason in the Hall of Fame game in Canton, Ohio.

The league announced Thursday the matchup for the Aug. 3 game.

The contest will be played a day after the Hall of Fame inducts seven new members, including one each from the Bills and Giants.

Wide receiver Andre Reed played 15 of his 16 seasons with the Bills from 1985-1999. Defensive end Michael Strahan spent his 15-season career with the Giants from 1993-2007, winning a Super Bowl in his final season.

This is the first time the Bills and Giants will meet in the Hall of Fame Game.

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