According to this article, evidently there's a new emphasis on fighting and getting control of it. It doesn't even necessarily involve throwing a punch, as Jeremy Lane of the Seahawks found out in the first quarter of yesterday's game. Normally it takes two personal fouls of a certain nature (which include, but aren't limited to, punching) to trigger the automatic ejection rule. But the referee has the discretion to eject immediately if it was "flagrant".
Clearly this, like everything else in the NFL, is going to be applied unevenly at best given the nature of the league office and the general shittiness of the officiating. In the Seahawks/Packers game, during a returned interception for a TD that was called back, Davante Adams initiated contact with Lane, as shown by replays after the fact, by twisting the facemask (which is still a 15 yard penalty AFAIK, but was uncalled) and they wrestled each other to the ground, where Lane ended up on top with his forearm pushing into Adams' face. This basically becomes a "no retaliation" situation where the instigator is going to get off scot-free and the guy who retaliates is going to get ejected, which is absolutely ridiculous. At the minimum, Adams should have been ejected with Lane. This rule, as currently applied by the referee (at least in this crew), is going to cause more problems because guys are going to instigate situations to try and get their opponents to retaliate and get ejected.
Yet late in the same game, Rodgers ran for a first down, diving headfirst, to ice the game. LB KJ Wright hit Rodgers in the back as he was diving to the ground and TE Marcellus Bennett got pissed at the perfectly legal hit and shoved Wright to the ground and only got a 15 yard penalty. Just within one game, we have uneven application of the same rule. Realistically, what was the difference there? I'd say Bennett's action was a lot more aggressive than Lane's, and yet he wasn't ejected.
Lane getting ejected wasn't near the top of the factors causing the Seahawks to lose, but it could have really screwed them. And you know there will be games that will be directly affected by it. Just one more reason why the NFL is a total clusterfuck of an organization.
Clearly this, like everything else in the NFL, is going to be applied unevenly at best given the nature of the league office and the general shittiness of the officiating. In the Seahawks/Packers game, during a returned interception for a TD that was called back, Davante Adams initiated contact with Lane, as shown by replays after the fact, by twisting the facemask (which is still a 15 yard penalty AFAIK, but was uncalled) and they wrestled each other to the ground, where Lane ended up on top with his forearm pushing into Adams' face. This basically becomes a "no retaliation" situation where the instigator is going to get off scot-free and the guy who retaliates is going to get ejected, which is absolutely ridiculous. At the minimum, Adams should have been ejected with Lane. This rule, as currently applied by the referee (at least in this crew), is going to cause more problems because guys are going to instigate situations to try and get their opponents to retaliate and get ejected.
Yet late in the same game, Rodgers ran for a first down, diving headfirst, to ice the game. LB KJ Wright hit Rodgers in the back as he was diving to the ground and TE Marcellus Bennett got pissed at the perfectly legal hit and shoved Wright to the ground and only got a 15 yard penalty. Just within one game, we have uneven application of the same rule. Realistically, what was the difference there? I'd say Bennett's action was a lot more aggressive than Lane's, and yet he wasn't ejected.
Lane getting ejected wasn't near the top of the factors causing the Seahawks to lose, but it could have really screwed them. And you know there will be games that will be directly affected by it. Just one more reason why the NFL is a total clusterfuck of an organization.
