25/40 Play clock

[bisonlj]

Originally Posted by ajmc

Not really a big deal, either way, but....The Referee, blowing his whistle to announce the RFP (so that everyone, even those not specifically looking at him, understood the RFP was declared) worked pretty well for 100, or so, years.

Why such a big deal about changing that?

Because it resulted in too much variation in the time from dead ball to delay of game play to play and game to game. This was especially critical at the end of a half when a team is trying to burn as much time as possible and the crew is either placing the ball too quickly and thus not allowing the offense to burn as much time as they want or taking too much time and allowing the offense to burn more time than they should. The other impact is the offense that likes to take their time calling their play, getting to the line, using motion and shifts and snap toward the end of the play clock. If they are commonly getting 40-45 seconds to do this and then suddenly they only get 35 because the ball was placed quickly they have to rush or end up calling a time out or incurring a delay of game.

Other than that the 25-second play clock is OK, but the 40-second play clock allows for a much smoother and consistent flow and takes away one thing the referee has to worry about on many dead balls. The reported results from the trial states was almost unanimous that the officials and coaches much preferred it. That's a pretty solid endorsement.