The NCAA News - News and Features

March 2, 1998

Football Rules Committee plans another sportsmanship videotape

The NCAA Football Rules Committee has voted to rekindle two old initiatives in the face of new challenges to educate players, coaches, administrators and officials regarding sportsmanship and consistency in uniforms and equipment.

The Football Rules Committee made the decision during its annual meeting February 16-18 in Kansas City, Missouri.

The rules committee will request funding to produce a sportsmanship videotape that would be supplied to all NCAA football-playing institutions and officiating organizations, as well as a four-color poster that would depict the proper way to wear the uniform and mandatory playing equipment.

"While we have seen significant improvement in sportsmanship since 1995, the rules committee believes it can be improved with continued educational efforts," said Vincent J. Dooley, chair of the Football Rules Committee and director of athletics at the University of Georgia. "We want everyone associated with the college game -- players, coaches, administrators, officials and fans -- to understand how important 'team' celebration is to our game and that players who attempt to draw attention solely to themselves will be penalized."

The sportsmanship videotape will be the second of its kind. The first videotape was produced and viewed by all football-playing schools before the 1995 season. The committee intends for the new tape to present a number of play situations that show both good and bad sportsmanship so that players, coaches and officials know what to expect before the 1998 season.

The poster will display how the uniform and the mandatory playing equipment are supposed to be worn. The last uniform/equipment poster was produced in 1984.

The committee's most recent interest in establishing consistency with the uniform began last year when it passed a rule that will require, effective in 1999, that the jersey be full-length and tucked into the pants.

Other uniforms/equipment actions

At this year's meeting, the committee passed the following rules pertaining to uniforms and/or equipment: that all squad members must wear visible socks or leg coverings that are identical in color, design and length; that all eye shields, if worn, must be clear (transparent) and made from molded and rigid material; and in 1999, all gloves or hand pads, if worn, must be gray in color.

The committee also amended Rule 1-4-4-g so that NCAA member institutions can, in the case of a death or catastrophic injury or illness, memorialize a player or person with a patch or decal not greater than 11/2 inches in diameter that displays the number, name or initials of the individual on the uniform or helmet.

For the first time in the history of the college game, a backward pass can be recovered and advanced by the defense. Responding to the overwhelming support of coaches, the committee cited consistency as the reason it adopted the new rule (Rule 4-1-3-j).

"The committee responded to a large majority of coaches (74 percent) who wanted to see a consistent application of the rules similar to how the defense is allowed to advance a fumble," Dooley said.

The committee also voted to seek approval from the Division I Championships/Competition Cabinet to mandate that officiating crews must be assigned from the same officiating organization beginning in 1999. Currently, split officiating crews (from different conferences or organizations) are allowed in college football.

As it relates to officiating, the committee voted to request funding to help support a clinic for Divisions II and III conference supervisors of officials and/or commissioners. The clinic is scheduled for July 19 at the Big Ten Conference office in Chicago.

The committee earmarked the following rules to study in the next 12 months: crack-back blocks; consistency in moving the game along (studying the National Football League procedure whereby a 40-second clock begins when the ball is dead vis-à-vis the current 25-second clock on the ready-for-play signal); intentional grounding; a ban on bandannas; and pass interference after a spread-punt formation.