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The NFL — the most popular pro sports league in the U.S. — has made several tweaks to its rules over the decades.
In 2024, changes to the kickoff rules faced some scrutiny. Before the start of the season, the league adjusted those rules.
Instant replay policies have also undergone revisions in recent years, but former NFL head coach Tony Dungy is calling for a complete overhaul. Dungy argued that today’s replay system has created a “credibility issue” for game officials and the NFL as a whole.
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Hall of Fame Head Coach Tony Dungy during an NFL game between the Pittsburg Steelers and the Indianapolis Colts on Nov. 28, 2022 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Jeffrey Brown/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Dungy, who coached the Indianapolis Colts to a Super Bowl title, cited a controversial call on a “tush push” play in the Philadelphia Eagles’ 38-20 Week 8 victory over the New York Giants. Referees blew the whistle on the play for forward progress.
Giants pass rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux knocked the ball from the hands of Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts. Thibodeaux emerged from the turf with the ball, but referees ruled that the quarterback’s forward progress had stalled, meaning no change of possession occurred.
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An in-game video replay appeared to show Hurts continuing to be pushed forward by a teammate. Under current rules, the play is not eligible for review. Dungy urged the NFL to make every play reviewable.
The NFL shield logo on the field at SoFi Stadium on Nov. 25, 2024 in Inglewood, California. (Kirby Lee/magn Images)
The NFL does have an expedited review system, which is intended to quickly correct clear and obvious mistakes.
“The NFL must get rid of these categories that are ‘non-reviewable!’ You can’t have New York jumping and change plays saying ‘expedited review told us…’ — and then have obvious misses that go unchanged. That’s what the review process was put in for. We had a couple in our GB-Pitt game and it’s terrible. When you change some obvious plays and not others you create a credibility issue and that’s what we have now,” Dungy wrote on X.
Tony Dungy on the NBC Sports set before the game between the Los Angeles Rams and the Buffalo Bills at SoFi Stadium on Sept. 8, 2022. (Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports)
Dungy also pointed to plays he believed should have been overturned during the Green Bay Packers win over the Pittsburgh Steelers this past Sunday.
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A few months after an apparent missed pass interference call in the 2019 NFC Championship Game, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell announced that an expanded replay system would allow pass interference to be reviewed.
The expansion ultimately lasted just one season, with the league later making pass interference a nonreviewable play again.
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