Can You Hear Me Now? Good!

The NFL owners got together at their meeting in Palm Beach.  They had a few cigars, a little Cognac, some laughs and talked a little football too.  There was a lot of money represented in that meeting room but, fortunately nobody made it rain.

They spent a little time voting on a new addition to the game – the proposed communication device for use by a defender.  The rich guys voted in favor of the new gadget by a margin of 25-7.

During last year’s meetings Patriots’ owner Robert Kraft voted against the proposal but since Spygate, I suppose he decided to change his mind.  He certainly couldn’t make it appear that he was still in favor of defensive hand signals after that.

Who do you suppose moderates a meeting like that?  And how do they call a meeting to order that includes so many huge egos?

Anyway, back to the new rule – it will allow one defender to wear a helmet outfitted with a neat little device, just like the ones that quarterbacks wear now, so he can hear the defensive alignments from his coach.  It’s likely that the designated helmet will be worn by a linebacker.  Only one player will be allowed to wear the special helmet on any given play.

"“It gives a degree of equity to the defense,” Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis said. “You’re still going to have to be prepared to signal in calls. It might enable some young players do more, earlier.“We have had to play a lot of young linebackers. It will help young players be a more integral part of the defense (because they can be instructed from sideline).”"

The rich guys of the NFL decided to table the new rule requiring players to cut their hair.  The NFL Players Association will likely have something to say about it and I don’t think they’re going to be too thrilled with that one.  They’ll be picking up that discussion next month.