The biggest change that fans will notice this season in the NFL is going to be removing weapons-related celebrations on the field. There will be no shooting a fake gun. You cannot brandish your fake weapon. You also cannot act like you are carrying one on your person.
This new rule will be enforced early and often.
On paper, that sounds pretty clear and straightforward. In terms of actually enforcing those rules, though, it’s not going to be easy off the bat.
Obviously, a lot of how this is enforced will come down to how the officials interpret players’ celebrations. It might look like the players are pointing two fingers on each hand down the field, but it will only take one official to think they were simulating a gun for a flag to be thrown and a 15-yard penalty to be enforced.
Early in the season, officlals are more likely to throw a flag if they think it’s even close. If the officials think a player was simulating shooting a gun or even holding one, they’re not going to go up to the player and ask him what he meant with the celebration. They’re likely going to throw the flag to make it clear that this is a priority.
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This is not a change that fans will notice only in the NFL. College football is going through a similar process of eliminating all fake weapons from celebrations in the game. Entering the NFL season, there were no noteworthy penalties enforced because of this through Week 0 and Week 1 of college football.
I do think officials will be more lenient as the season progresses. There will definitely be an adjustment period for everybody involved, and there might be some rocky moments.
With that, there is going to be an adjustment period for everyone involved.
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