After Further Review, Replay Is Back

The NFL extended its instant replay system for three years as league meetings concluded Wednesday at Palm Desert. The league also fixed loopholes in several rules and banned bandannas and other unapproved headgear.

The only team that voted against the rule outlawing bandannas and stocking caps but allowing skullcaps in team colors or head coverings for medical purposes was the Oakland Raiders.

“Shockingly, yes,” said Tampa Bay Buccaneer General Manager Rich McKay, co-chairman of the competition committee.

Baltimore Raven linebacker Ray Lewis, the most valuable player of the Super Bowl, wears a bandanna partly because of a scalp condition, team officials claim.

Dennis Green, coach of the Minnesota Vikings and McKay’s co-chairman, supported the bandanna ban--his team already had such a ban--saying such headgear is not part of the uniform.

Clarifying what a stocking is, Green called it “what your grandmother used to wear--but she didn’t put them on her head.”

The instant-replay issue, often contentious in the past, was put to rest for the next few years as the league extended the system that has been in use for two years, subject to annual approval.

“I think with replay in place for three years, [former Dallas Cowboy general manager] Tex Schramm can sleep well tonight as the father of instant replay,” Commissioner Paul Tagliabue said.

Five of the 31 teams voted against the three-year extension--the Arizona Cardinals, Buffalo Bills, Cincinnati Bengals, Kansas City Chiefs and New York Jets. The Indianapolis Colts abstained.

Instant replay, introduced in 1986, was voted out in 1991, then brought back two seasons ago.

Part of the reason for a multiyear agreement is to allow for tweaking the system without risking it being voted out altogether, league officials said.

In his closing remarks, Tagliabue also mentioned that he is concerned by the rash of releases of high-paid but still-productive veteran players for salary-cap reasons, calling some cases “unfortunate.”

In news Raider fans will cheer, the NFL voted to change the rule that contributed to a Raider loss to Seattle Seahawks last season when the Seahawks were awarded a safety after Marquez Pope recovered a fumble but his momentum carried him into the end zone.

The rule previously allowed an exception for an interception but not a fumble.

It now states that if a defensive player intercepts a pass or recovers a fumble and his momentum carries him into the end zone and the ball is declared dead, the defensive team gets the ball at the spot where it was intercepted or recovered.

In another move stemming from controversy last season, the NFL made protecting the quarterback a point of emphasis.

Quarterbacks Steve McNair of the Tennessee Titans and Rich Gannon of the Raiders were injured in games against the Ravens on plays where no flag was thrown, although Lewis and defensive tackle Tony Siragusa later were fined by the league.

“Yes, there should have been flags,” McKay said. “When in doubt, throw the flag, is really what we’re trying to say.”

An existing rule stating that flagrant fouls can result in a player being disqualified from the game also will be emphasized, McKay said.