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.
