By Bill Bradley, contributing editor
NFL owners on Tuesday passed all four player safety rules proposed by the Competition Committee at the Annual Meeting in Phoenix, a league spokesman announced.
The new safety rules passed were:
- Expanding the protection for receivers who are considered defenseless players. It would give the intended receiver protection following an interception, which would trigger a 15-yard penalty.
- Making the chop block illegal by running backs outside the tight end, resulting in a 15-yard penalty.
- Abolishing peel-back blocks by all offensive players, and not just those inside the tackle box, resulting in a 15-yard penalty.
- Expansion of the rule that makes it illegal to push a teammate into the line to include punts as well as place kicks and will cause a 5-yard penalty.
Earlier in the day, the owners unanimously passed a rule that allows medical observers to call a time out to examine a play that might have been injured.
