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The NFL – the most popular pro sports league in the United States – has made numerous adjustments to its rules over the decades.
In 2024, changes to the kickoff rules were explored. Before the start of the season, the league adjusted these rules.
Instant replay policies have also undergone revisions in recent years, but former NFL head coach Tony Dungy is calling for a complete overhaul. Dungy argued that today’s replay system has created a “credibility problem” for game officials and the NFL as a whole.
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Hall of Fame head coach Tony Dungy during an NFL game between the Pittsburg Steelers and the Indianapolis Colts on November 28, 2022 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Jeffrey Brown/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Dungy, who coached the Indianapolis Colts to a Super Bowl title, cited a controversial call on a “tush push” play in the Philadelphia Eagles’ 38-20 Week 8 win over the New York Giants. The referees blew the whistle on the play for progress.
Giants pass rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux knocked the ball out of the hands of Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts. Thibodeaux came off the turf with the ball, but the officials ruled that the quarterback’s progress had stalled, meaning there was no change of possession.
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An in-game video replay showed Hurts continued to be pushed forward by a teammate. According to current regulations, the piece is not eligible for notification. Dungy urged the NFL to make every play reportable.
The NFL shield logo on the field at SoFi Stadium on November 25, 2024 in Inglewood, California. (Kirby Lee/magn Images)
The NFL has an expedited review system that is intended to quickly correct clear and obvious mistakes.
“The NFL needs to get rid of these categories that are ‘non-reviewable!’ You can’t have New York jump and change plays saying “quick review told us…” – and then have glaring misses that remain unchanged. That’s what the revision process was set up for. We had a couple in our GB-Pitt game and it’s terrible. When you change some obvious plays and not others, you create a credibility problem, and that’s what we have now,” Dungy wrote on X.
Tony Dungy on NBC Sports prior to the game between the Los Angeles Rams and the Buffalo Bills at SoFi Stadium on September 8, 2022. (Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports)
Dungy also pointed to plays he believed should have been overturned during the Green Bay Packers’ win over the Pittsburgh Steelers last Sunday.
A few months after an apparently lost pass-interference call in the 2019 NFC Championship Game, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell announced that an expanded replay system would allow pass-interference to be reviewed.
The expansion ultimately lasted only one season, with the league later making pass interference a non-reviewable play.
