Roger Goodell Hints Rule Proposal Steelers Are Against Could Pass
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell hints a rule proposal that the Pittsburgh Steelers have voiced they are against could pass.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell believes owners will come to a consensus in May on several rule changes, one of which will not make the Pittsburgh Steelers happy.
Goodell hints that a proposal by the Detroit Lions to seed the playoffs by record instead of guaranteeing the division winners a top-four seed and at least one home game could pass.
“The question is at some point, if you’re not .500 or better, do you deserve the ability to have a home game, too?” Goodell asked on “The Pat McAfee Show.” “I think that’s pretty hard to argue.”
There have been four division winners in a non-strike shortened season who hosted a playoff game despite having a losing record, with Tampa Bay the last to do it in 2022.
However, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin has voiced he would be very against such a rule change.
“I’m a division purist, to be quite honest with you,” Tomlin said. “I love the rivalries that is division play. I love the structure of our scheduling that highlights it. I’d just categorize myself as a division purist. I think the division winner should get a playoff game and a home playoff game.”
Goodell spoke on a few other measures as well, including the highly debated tush push play that’s helped the Philadelphia Eagles win one Super Bowl and reach another.
“A lot of coaches would tell you that’s not part of football, right. It may be rugby but it’s not us,” Goodell said. “The second thing is really the safety of the game. And that’s of primary importance to us. Is it a play that’s unsafe when you’re in those positions where you’re getting pushed or pulled and you can’t control where you’re going. Those are the two factors. On the other side, there’s a legitimate argument that everyone can do it, and you know, if somebody does it better than the others, that’s the way the game is played.”
It takes 24 of 32 votes to approve rule changes and neither side of the argument had clear support at the league meetings earlier this month.
Goodell also remains committed to adding an 18th regular-season game to the schedule in the future. The NFL went from 16 games to 17 in 2021, reducing the preseason to three games, and would like to get to a model of 18 regular-season and two preseason games.
“(The NFLPA) have a right to approve it,” he said. “So that’s going to be really important for us, in having that conversation, say yes, we can grow the pie and they get a percentage of it. Is it the right step? I think we feel strongly that it is, but that may be something that will have to happen over a longer term. It may not be a shorter-term thing.”