News Article: NCAA rules committee exploring changes to limit faked injuries in college football

[JustNeedMe81]

NCAA rules committee exploring changes to limit faked injuries in college football - The Athletic


National director of officials Steve Shaw told The Athletic on Monday that faking injuries is going to be “a big topic” at the next meeting of the NCAA Football Rules Committee on March 1. This is a rule-change year, meaning the group can put forth its recommendations for immediate consideration from the NCAA's Playing Rules Oversight Panel.



“Obviously, we want to take feigning injuries out of the game,” Shaw said. “It’s a bad look for the game. It’s an integrity issue. If you have a feigned injury, it garners an unmerited timeout for your team. We’re really looking at: What’s the next step to move away from that?”



The sport knows it has a problem. Some defenses are willing to take whatever measures they can to offset up-tempo offense, and the appearance of an unnecessary stoppage can draw complaints from coaches and fans alike. Last season, multiple high-profile games featured a partisan crowd booing at a suspected fake injury while the home team had the ball; the fallout from one such controversy in Iowa's win over Penn State compelled both Hawkeyes coach Kirk Ferentz and Nittany Lions coach James Franklin to comment on the situation in the days after the game. Administrators have said for years it’s an issue, but they haven’t found an effective way to combat it yet.

 

[JayBama_in_PCOLA]

Finally. Only took them half a decade.

 

[BamaBuc]

1.- Require the player to sit out the full series...
2.- The 2nd time in a year, the player sits out until the 'D' returns to the field...
3.- The 3rd time player must sit out the rest of that half...

Who cares if it's harsh, wrist slapping won't get it done!

 

[bamaslammer]

Since all the fakery is on the defensive side of the ball I'd like to see all defensive players who leave the field due to injury be required to stay out a minimum of number of plays. or the remainder of the series which ever is shorter. I don't recall an offensive player ever diving because the whole point of the dive is to slow down the other teams offense.

 

[Con]

Going to have to pay an official to keep up with all of the injuries.

 

[Joefus]

How do you prove they’re faking it tho? I’m actually ok with defenses faking injuries against hurry up offenses. They’re both jobbing the game to get an advantage. The way to properly fix this is to move to the nfl style of game. Can’t do hurry up after a dead ball. Fixes everything

 

[colbysullivan]

Impossible to enforce

 

[TheRealPokeChop]

Absolutely impossible to enforce, and I promise you if they try you'll hate it more than the players taking a dive.

 

[CullmanTide]

Finally. Only took them half a decade.

It has been going on much longer than that.

 

[Ole Man Dan]

2nd Offense should be a 15 yard penalty, and the player sets out a full game.
A Country Cousin of mine (Holly Pond, before it became prosperous) used to say... 'That'll Break Em From Sucking Eggs'.
Now there are Million Dollar Homes where they used to live.

 

[mrusso]

Oh great. So now we'll send it up to the booth for a 5-minute review to see if the player is really injured.</bluefontbutnotreally>

 

[JayBama_in_PCOLA]

It has been going on much longer than that.

Well, I tried to give them a little benefit of the doubt, but you’re right.

 

[AlexanderFan]

How do you prove they’re faking it tho? I’m actually ok with defenses faking injuries against hurry up offenses. They’re both jobbing the game to get an advantage. The way to properly fix this is to move to the nfl style of game. Can’t do hurry up after a dead ball. Fixes everything

Enforce offensive rules and defenses won’t have to do this. I agree.

 

[MILEHIGHTIDE]

Lol I was just about to post this article but good to hear that I am not the only person who really feels that this occurs on such a regular basis by numerous teams it is actually part of their typical game strategy. Really surprised no one has talked about this or ratted out a team as in disgruntled players, coaches, reporters etc. Think the saints and the hit list, “bountygate”.

Who knows but like numerous guys have already stated enforcing this is going to be challenging and interesting at the least. A possible solution is that the player is out for the series, if multiple players on a possession, or quarter, or half, then a timeout type penalty all the way up to and or including a 15 yard unsportsmanlike penalty. Maybe the player cannot return to the game until a team licensed physician md completes a full assessment including neuro whether it is initially assessed on the field as simple cramping or not and signs off, like the nfl concussion protocol, before the player can participate further.

Regardless, while technically legal it certainly is questionable from a sportsmanship type angle. Even without a penalty per se something needs to be done as a general deterrent or safety protocol because as long as it is not illegal or addressed then it is really just a personal opinion type situation and will continue to be used by some teams whether openly or covertly. I am all about player safety but it really seems to happen to us quite frequently and since we do not employ this type of strategy ourselves, only a positive outcome for us if it does come to fruition. In fact last year tam temp injuries seemed a little excessive. RTR

 

[Padreruf]

The only answer that works is having coaches and players who possess integrity...not sure that's ever going to happen.

 

[AlistarWills]

Since all the fakery is on the defensive side of the ball I'd like to see all defensive players who leave the field due to injury be required to stay out a minimum of number of plays. or the remainder of the series which ever is shorter.

This is how I feel. If a player is truly hurt, they will sit several plays so it won’t matter if it’s a legit injury. If a team is faking because big boy DL is gassed and can’t keep up, then sorry.
Their option is to eliminate the HUNH stuff where teams are snapping the ball 12 seconds into a play clock, or deal with keeping up with who gets to sit out on defense. Make it reviewable if a player comes back in before their play count or the series is up. I assure you, if an offense can get extra yards from penalty because they ratted out a faker, they’ll keep up with it FOR the refs.

 

[PA Tide Fan]

In addition to whatever on field discipline is handed out I think there may be some cases where if a team has "x" number of violations in a season the HC could be fined for allowing it to happen. When Gus Malzahn was at Auburn his players were faking injuries frequently. When Orgeron was at LSU his players were going down for no good reason. Some coaches are flagrant violators.

 

[TIDE-HSV]

2nd Offense should be a 15 yard penalty, and the player sets out a full game.
A Country Cousin of mine (Holly Pond, before it became prosperous) used to say... 'That'll Break Em From Sucking Eggs'.
Now there are Million Dollar Homes where they used to live.

The old Self family farm is near there - Berlin...

 

[KrAzY3]

How do you prove they’re faking it tho? I’m actually ok with defenses faking injuries against hurry up offenses. They’re both jobbing the game to get an advantage. The way to properly fix this is to move to the nfl style of game. Can’t do hurry up after a dead ball. Fixes everything

Well, I would say I think sitting out just one play is probably not sufficient in terms of making sure the player is healthy. If he's injured enough to mandate stopping everything, one would think it is serious enough to warrant a more serious amount of time on the sideline. I wouldn't go as far as saying a full series, but I'd say there probably should be something like an actual real time clock that starts and the player has to be on the sidelines for at least 5 minutes or what ever time deemed appropriate to evaluate his injury.

I would also say that yeah, I wouldn't be against some sensible stuff to avoid the gimmick hurry up aspects as well which fake injuries are designed to prevent. But still, I do not like the idea of someone being hurt enough to stay down on the field and not get up, and then magically he's back after one play.

 

[NoNC4Tubs]

How do you prove they’re faking it tho? I’m actually ok with defenses faking injuries against hurry up offenses. They’re both jobbing the game to get an advantage. The way to properly fix this is to move to the nfl style of game. Can’t do hurry up after a dead ball. Fixes everything

How would you define "Hurry up"...

Seriously, that would have to be defined in order to enforce it.

Would be another clock for that?