The NFL made plenty of rule changes during their annual Owners’ Meeting, and although they can’t take back the past, it’s good to see they’ve learned.
One of the hardest things about being an NFL fan is the slow change it takes for anything to improve. Year after year the league sees mistakes and ignores them as if nothing can happen to correct them. Maybe it’s the day of social media that has urged the league to better itself, but they’ve fixed their wrongs this offseason.
If the NFL did nothing else this summer, they needed to change the pass interference replay rule. By the time the Pittsburgh Steelers and New Orleans Saints suffered inexcusable loses, one costing a team a Super Bowl birth, fans were ready to fire all the refs and start over.
But the league came through during the NFL Owners’ Meeting, making all pass interference calls in the first 28 minutes of play challengeable by coaches. During the last two minutes of each half, these plays are still reviewable but by the booth.
Maybe it’s too late to send the Steelers to the playoffs or give the fans the Brady vs Brees Super Bowl they were hoping for, but it makes it better moving forward. Everyone makes mistakes, but it’s how you respond to those mistakes that defines you. The NFL isn’t very good at correcting their wrongs, but after receiving hate from basically the entire fanbase, they learned.
Now, fans can get back to asking why they’re still following Antonio Brown on Twitter and hoping the Steelers trade some draft picks to move up before April. Not much better than angering yourself because Pittsburgh should’ve beaten the Chargers and the Saints, but still a more forward look than dreading on a past this team can’t do anything about.