Dallas Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones, who is on the NFL competition committee, recently shared that a rule change for fumbling out of the end zone has “died,” per Michael Gehlken of the Dallas Morning News.
Typically, rule changes made in the offseason occur after a specific incident doesn’t sit well with the committee or fans. But in this particular instance, there was no single dramatic moment. The Kansas City Chiefs’ Mecole Hardman was on the wrong end of this rule in the divisional round against the Buffalo Bills, but his team would recover and go on to win the Super Bowl.
As it’s presently constructed, if an offensive player fumbles the ball and it goes through the opponent’s end zone and over the end line or sideline, a touchback is awarded to the defensive team. The rule has faced some scrutiny in recent years, as the offense keeps possession of the ball when it is fumbled out of bounds in other parts of the field.
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Additionally, if the ball is fumbled in a team’s own end zone or in the field of play and goes out of bounds in the end zone, it is a safety if that team provided the force that sent the ball into the end zone. If the impetus was provided by the opponent, it is a touchback.
Despite the development, if 24 out of the 32 NFL owners decide to make the change, they can do just that. For now, though, there’s no reason to believe the rule will be changed for the 2024 season.
