Pair of Seahawks unhappy with NFL rule to stop leaping on field goal attempts
Mar 28, 2017, 5:41 PM | Updated: 6:54 pm
It appears Cardinals coach Bruce Arians has won.
A pair of Seattle Seahawks aren’t pleased about it.
The NFL on Tuesday announced a rule change prohibiting leaping of the line of scrimmage during field goal and extra point attempts. Arians is one of 10 members of the league’s competition committee, and his experience from watching such plays in 2016 — often to the detriment of his own team — surely played a role in the NFL’s decision.
Seahawks linebacker Bobby Wagner reacted to the rule change via Twitter, writing, “We are creative. We will find another way.”
Accompanying the message was a picture of him leaping the Cardinals’ line during the two teams’ 6-6 tie back in October.
We are creative. We will find another way pic.twitter.com/p04yNBzDk5
— Bobby Wagner (@Bwagz54) March 28, 2017
Seattle safety Kam Chancellor wasn’t pleased with the rule changes, either.
No Fun League…
How can you entertain if you are governed by people who never broke a bone before? #TheyDontUnderstand #NFL— The Enforcer (@Kam_Chancellor) March 28, 2017
However, Chancellor and Wagner may be in the minority in their opinions, even in Seattle. The vote on the leaping rule change passed 32-0, meaning the Seahawks voted in its favor.
Wagner spoiled Cardinals scoring attempts during the teams’ wild game.
First, he jumped over Arizona long snapper Aaron Brewer on a field goal attempt to block Chandler Catanzaro’s kick. Later, he jumped over Brewer but touch the ball during an overtime extra point attempt that the Cardinals missed.
Three of 41 kicks were blocked by players jumping over the line of scrimmage last season, according to NFL Research.
Following that game, Arians voiced his complaints about Wagner’s plays. By the rules, the first leap was legal because Wagner didn’t launch himself off anyone. The second, in which he did, was against the old rules but went uncalled.
“I’m sure I’ll talk to the league and we’ll get some kind of explanation that is all [expletive], like normal,” Arians said following the game.
The Seahawks didn’t let Arians’ complaints go unresponded to.
“We knew their cadence,” Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman told The Seattle Times. “I heard somebody saying that they were arguing or complaining.
“Now you’re saying we can’t jump over your snapper because you made your cadence so predictable. You made your snapper keep his head down. And now you want to change the rule again because you got your kicked block. That’s unfortunate.”
But Arians remained steadfast that a rule change was needed.
The Cardinals coach repeatedly said one solution was to train long snappers to pull their heads up, thus stopping opponents from jumping over them. That didn’t sound like a safe solution, he added.
It was also a matter of difficult officiating.
“The competition committee went through that play and the officials wanted it taken out,” Arians said on Sirius XM NFL radio days later. “The committee left it in, but it cannot be officiated.
“I think it’s bad for football. I think it’s a dangerous play as it is and should be taken out of the game,” he added. “I think we’re putting a very big burden on the officials to call that play.”
Arians got his wish Tuesday.
