NFL Owners Turn Back Clock, Reinstate 30-Second Rule

National Football League owners bowed to pressure from coaches Wednesday and scrapped the experimental 40-second clock, reinstating the old 30-second clock for the regular season and playoffs.

In a wire vote, 13 teams voted to retain the 40-second clock and 15 voted against it. Under NFL bylaws, any rule change must be approved by 21 of the 28 teams.

Under the experiment, approved by the owners last spring, the 40-second clock was started as soon as the whistle blew to end the previous play. After timeouts, teams had 25 seconds to put the ball into play.

Under the old rule, which will be back in use for the final week of the exhibition season, teams had 30 seconds to snap the ball after the referee signals play to begin.

Proponents of the 40-second clock, led by Tex Schramm of the Dallas Cowboys, argued that not only did it speed up the games, they also seemed better paced.

According to NFL figures, the 44 exhibition games played with the 40-second clock this season averaged 3 hours 5 minutes 42 seconds, compared to 3:09.05 for the first 44 exhibitions last year. Regular games last season averaged 3:11.40.