This episode delves into the esoteric regulations of the National Football League (NFL) that elude the grasp of most fans. We endeavor to illuminate five particularly obscure rules, providing insights that may enhance the viewer's appreciation of the game. The discussion includes the unique fair catch free kick, which affords teams the opportunity to score points under specific circumstances. Additionally, we examine the evolution of the horse collar rule and its implications for player safety, alongside the nuanced interpretations of face mask penalties. Ultimately, a thorough understanding of these hidden rules not only enriches our viewing experience but also fosters engaging discourse among enthusiasts.

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In this episode, I'm diving into the hidden rules of the NFL that most fans have no clue about.

You might see some of these pop up on any given Sunday and you'd be ready for it if you listen to our five coming up in just a moment.

This is the Pigskin Daily History Dispatch, a podcast that covers the anniversaries of American football events throughout history.

Your host, Darren Hayes is podcasting from America's North Shore to bring you the memories of the gridiron one day at a time.

Hello, my football friends.

This is Darren Hayes of pigskindispatch.com welcome once again to the Pig Pen, your portal to positive football history.

And welcome to A Little Bit of Rules History and maybe some modern rules that will try to enlighten you on some very obscure rules in the NFL rule book that you might not be aware of, but they could pop up at any moment.

And actually, most coaches and serious NFL fans other than the officials might not know about some of these things, but we're going to try to make them a little bit more mainstream and popular.

So to fill your football brain up with some great thoughts here, before we get into the full subject matter of today's episode, why don't you make sure you hit subscribe and like and hit that notification bell now.

Things, you know, modern wise, you know, the last couple years we've had the dynamic kickoff and just this weekend, you know, I don't think any of us as fans and people that even studied the rules like, like I do even fully understand it because you don't see some things very often.

But this, this weekend I saw it was during the packers and Steelers game on Sunday night where Chris Boswell as a Steelers kicker, kicked the ball, it landed into the drop zone and the packers let it skip through the end zone and go out.

Well, the packers got the ball at the 20 yard line just like the old touchback rule from a few years ago.

So that's just one of those obscure rules.

But that's not one of the five that we're going to cover tonight.

We're going to cover some really interesting ones.

And the first one is kind of a doozy that most people don't know about.

And that is the fair catch free kick.

And let me explain that a little bit.

This is that levels of football, high school, college and a professional level.

It is a little bit of an older rule.

But whenever during a punt, if someone waves a fair catch and they catch it, the ball's dead right there.

Well, that team that's awarded the fair catch at any time has the option of a free kick for point.

In essence, that means they can kick a field goal without any defense on the field.

They can line up just like they would during the opening kickoff, a kick at the field goal on the awarded fair catch field goal.

So that would probably not happen in the middle of a game, but that would definitely happen at the end of a half where a team needed trying to get a quick score.

And if somebody's punting from deep in their own end zone and you fair catch at the 50 yard line, well, guess what?

These kickers these days can kick from the 50 yard line and put the ball 60 yards in the air with ease.

Especially when there's not, you know, 11 guys trying to bear down on them and block the kick.

So that's.

And it's right off the tee too.

So that's kind of a cool rule to do that's very obscure in the ways of the NFL.

Now the horse collar rule has become popular over the last decade or so when it was instituted.

And it really protects the players mainly from getting their legs, the runner legs getting injured by that sudden jerk of somebody reaching inside the collar.

So you know, it's technically it's anything inside the collar is a horse collar if they try to tackle inside the shoulder pad, inside the neckline of the jersey.

But the NFL recently over the last couple of years has expanded that to the nameplate on the jersey too.

So the nameplate is the back of the jersey above the numbers where a guy's name would be, just like the reason says.

So if somebody grabs a hold of that nameplate and jerks them back, that is also under the jurisdiction of a horse collar in the National Football League's rules.

A face mask.

Now we always think of a face mask of grabbing a hold of that cage in front of the person's face that we call the face mask itself.

But technically, at all levels of football, any opening of the helmet that is grasped and tugged by a defender or the opposition, I guess it doesn't have to be a defender, that is a face mask.

Including the ear hole underneath the helmet, the back of the helmet, inside the helmet, above the face mask, you know, that is a face mask anywhere on that helmet that runners are protected from that happening.

So might not know that rule, but that is definitely was that.

But something else that maybe the modern fan doesn't realize.

But the goal post location, we're so used to it now at all levels, the goal posts are back on the end lines the back of the end zones 10 yards away from the field of play of where you know your yard lines are.

So you'll see some of these like the AFL games and they're during the merger Super Bowl 1, 2, 3 and 4 where the the goal posts are on the goal line, people are running by them as they're scoring touchdowns, going over the goal line and probably had a few accidents there too of people running into them, long passes or what have you.

But yeah, the goal posts were moved 10 yards back.

Now the extra point play in the National Football League and I believe this is this way in in college too.

And I'm not sure if high school has it and I haven't been in the high school rule books the last 10 years or so, but if the defense on the extra point play does a scoop and score or a pick six or somehow gets their hands a block kick and return for they can return it the opposite end zone and get two points out of that.

Most people don't do it because know that because we don't see it very often.

It happens maybe once or twice in college football.

You'll see a highlight reel of, you know, make the top 10 the next day.

Not a very common occurrence.

But in the rulebook, the defense on an extra point play can score points.

Kind of an interesting one that not a lot of people are aware of it.

So there you have it.

There is a few of the secret NFL rules that change the game.

You know, knowing new rules can add a new layer of enjoyment to watching a game.

Help fans to realize the complexities of the sport.

And it's also pretty cool.

Talk around the water cooler when you're looking for something to talk to with your buddies at work or wherever.

Having, you know, a few suds after, after a long day or out on the front porch talking with your neighbor.

You know.

Now if you've got a secret rule or some NFL trivia to share, just drop it in the comment sections here on the YouTube channel or write us@pixkin dispatch gmail.com.

and if you're interested in more videos like this, be sure to check out the other content on NFL history and football, American football history in general, right here on Pixkin Dispatch Channel.

Check out our podcast, check out our website pigskindispatch.com until next time.

Everybody have a great gridiron day.

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