Official Rules of the NFL

by National Football League, Paul Tagliabue, Larry Upson

Book Overview

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1572434309
• ISBN13: 9781572434301
• Release Date: August 2001
• Publisher: Torrey Pines Press
• Length: 216 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 4.1" x 6.4"

Customer Reviews

NFL official rule book 2004

Book arrive in new condition - excellent service and it arrived very quickly - would recommend this seller - answers a lot of questions I had concerning the rules.

Makin' the call

Feelin' the need to bone up on a little pigskin readin' before the start of the latest season of hard-hittin' NFL action, I decided to check out the 2004 edition of the league's official rule book. Not only was I curious to read all about the infamous "tuck rule" that the Raider Nation has been gripin' about for the last three years, I wanted to take a refresher course on the various referee signals so's could interpret their little "pantomime act" following a penalty. While it was easy to find the latter section (pages 218-223), the former section isn't so clear-cut. I'm assuming it's a combo of the various forward-passing rules described on pages 96 to 100, the rules on fumbles mentioned in pages 106 to 109, and instant replay regs discussed on pages 190 to 192. Speaking of the ref signals: I've yet to see an official do the "Interlocking Interference", "Illegal Cut", or "Illegal Crackback" calls. And I've only seen one instance of the "Pass Juggled In-Bounds and Caught Out-of-Bounds" signal. The super-rarity of these calls has inspired me to put together a sort of license-plate game. Only instead of trying to rack up the most states, you try to rack up the greatest number of different penalty signals. Then there's the drinking game, where each fan selects a particular ref call, and downs a shot of Jaegermeister each time that particular call is made. The last uberfan standing wins a trip to worship at the altar of the porcelain god! Hey, let's face facts: part of the reason you attend your buddy's home tailgate parties is to get rip-roarin' drunk and rowdy-rowdy, anyway; you might as well have a bit of fun downin' all that hooch... Anyhoo: it doesn't need to be said that this book covers quite a bit more than what I've mentioned in the previous paragraph. Also covered are the official dimensions of the field of play, the proper placement of hash marks, yard lines, and sideline boundaries, scoring, proper conduct, and proper player appearance and dress. After reading the rules of the latter part (pages 60 to 72), I can see why some players say that "NFL" stands for the "No Fun League"; quite a few of the rules regarding the proper appearance and wear of uniforms and equipment are downright draconian! No wonder I've been gravitating towards the Arena League in recent years... Also of interest to me is the chapter on player conduct, starting on page 136. I think the NFL should make this mandatory reading for all players... `cuz I'm not sure enough of `em know how to conduct themselves properly. Especially a certain couple of wide receivers, if you catch my drift. One set of rules in particular that regards the illegality of a player assisting the ball carrier in any way except to block opponents, reminded me of a particularly memorable play where William "Refrigerator" Perry tried to advance the ball on an offensive play by picking up and carrying Walter Payton. Needless to say, Perry was penalized for this attempted assist, which has become

This book will be meaningless in 2002.

Although this is one of the best books that I have ever read, I amdisturbed that next year it will not be worth a darn. They need topublish an NFL rulebook with rules for the next ten years....Thechapter on the 2 minute fumble rule was exciting.