The XFL isn't making up a lot of new rules, but it won't be exactly what NFL fans have become accustomed to, although WWF chieftain Vince McMahon and NBC Sports president Dick Ebersol insist most of their changes hark back to the NFL's earlier days.
McMahon makes much of his league abandoning the in-the-grasp rule the older league employs to protect its quarterbacks, opining that the NFL rules have "nothing to do with safety" but are simply an attempt by the league "to protect the investment of the owner of the team."
The new league does, however, insist that QBs are protected to the extent that they can't be hit if they slide, and "head slaps are illegal." But if all of the XFL's quarterbacks get injured and knocked out for the season, well, so be it.
"We may run out of them," McMahon said. "If we do, it would make it very interesting."
And making it interesting for TV viewers is what the XFL is all about.
The XFL will ban fair catches, but punt returners will have a 5-yard "protective halo" tacklers can't violate until the punt is caught, and the kicking team can't cross the line of scrimmage until the ball is kicked. Any punt traveling more than 25 yards is a live ball that can be recovered by either team. Kickoffs or punts into the end zone must be returned (unless they carry past the end line).
There will be no PAT kicks — teams must run or pass from the 2-yard line for a one-point conversion.
The XFL will require only one foot in bounds for a legal reception, and defensive backs can employ "bump and run" defense all the way down the field.
The XFL's overtime will be more like the one in college football — each team will get the ball at the other's 20-yard line and a chance to score; however, if the first team scores in only three plays, the second team will have only three downs to score itself.
The new league also is committed to speeding up play and shortening games. Halftimes will be only 10 minutes; there will be 35 seconds between plays if the clock is stopped and only 25 seconds if it isn't. NBC also is promising two fewer commercial breaks per quarter than NFL telecasts. "The dull and predictable parts of the game — like the fair catch, like the taking a knee on a kickoff — they're all gone," Ebersol said.
E-MAIL: pierce@desnews.com