Packers Team President Mark Murphy Was Named To The NFL Competition Committee

by Brandon on Feb 14, 2012 5:00 PM CST in Green Bay Packers News

Murphy named to NFL Competition Committee. The new members of the NFL competition committee were named today, and one of them was Green Bay Packers team President Mark Murphy. He's the first member to represent the Packers since Mike Holmgren did so in the 1990s.

The competition committee is influential because it gets to decide things like where the umpire should stand, and where the ball should be kicked off from and when a play can be challenged. It also deserves to be mocked by the Onion from time-to-time for putting the "no fun" in the No Fun League.

This is probably a nice perk for Murphy, who had to run point for the league during the worst of the NFL lockout. He'll be joining it this year along with Cardinals head coach Ken Weisenhunt, and former co-chair Jeff Fisher. Fisher had to settle for an advisory role last year with the committee while he was out of football.

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1st item on the agenda

I hate the rule that allows the opposing coach to call a timeout within 1/10th of a second of the ball being snapped for a winning field goal. If you want to ice the kicker, you should have to call the TO before the O lineman go down into their stance for the FG formation. It’s the most disruptive thing I’ve seen in sports. In what other sport can you freeze the action like that. It’s like calling a TO in basketball while the player is jumping up before he’s about to release a winning 3 pointer or as their releasing the ball for a free throw. Lets call a TO when you’ve got the puck handler skating down the ice for the winning penalty/OT shot as he’s bearing down on the goalie.

Plus the fans in the stadium are always left wondering what the heck is going on. Did the FG count? Who called the TO, I didn’t hear the refs whistle? Did they really beat the snap with the TO? The best way to ice a kicker is to get some D-line penetration.

by Icebowler on Feb 15, 2012 12:23 AM CST reply actions

Dear Mr. Murphy (yes, I'll just pretend you read this stuff...),

Please do whatever you can to change the instant replay system. Some suggestions:

1. Get the challenges completely out of the hands of the coaches. They are paid to coach, not referee. They have enough going on without having to police the referees mistakes. Do what the college system does.

2. Have a basic rule for the refs: if it’s even remotely close, don’t rule the play dead when there’s a fumble or interception. Let the play carry out it’s complete outcome. That removes all the confusion about, “Well, it was clearly a fumble, but we don’t know who would’ve recovered it…”

3. EVERY play should be reviewable. However, if a play takes longer than 1 minute to overturn – i.e., if it’s such a “bang-bang” play that you have to see it 20 times – just keep the ruling on the field as-is. It’s called “Inconclusive Evidence” for a reason. This will speed up the game.

4. Move the kickoff back to the 30, please. Don’t allow the coverage team a running start beyond 5 yards (like last year). This will make high-impact collisions less likely.

Thanks Mark!

Acme Packing Company: proof that anyone can be a sports journalist.

by JSOnline Castaway on Feb 15, 2012 8:39 AM CST reply actions

On #2

They’re supposed to do that, they just sometimes (oftentimes) do a bad job of it.

by mpbMKE on Feb 15, 2012 10:40 AM CST up reply actions

#2

Has been a huge pet peeve of mine for years. For every time time the refs do the right thing and let the close play run its course, there’s another play where they inexplicably do the opposite and blow the whistle too soon. Often times its on turnovers( fumbles) that are recovered and advanced, and have a big impact on the game. One of the greatest plays in the history of football occurred because a ref did not blow a whistle when 98% of refs would have…….the Antonio Freeman catch in OT against the Vikings when he was laying on his back which he advanced for a TD. Real time , it looked like there was no way he caught that ball without it somehow touching the ground. Whether or not the ref was convinced he did in the driving rainstorm I’ll never know, but he correctly LET THE PLAY RUN ITS COURSE.

by Icebowler on Feb 15, 2012 2:17 PM CST up reply actions