The NFL is cracking down on kickers using “foreign objects” to line up their kicks, something that has always been illegal but players have gotten away with due to loose officiating. But it seems not everyone involved was aware of the rule change – until it was being enforced in real time.
John Fassel, special teams coordinator for the Cowboys, told the team’s official website that he hadn’t been told of the crackdown – and that Bryan Anger, the holder for kicker Brett Maher, was warned mid-game in the wild-card matchup win over the Buccaneers about using a blade of grass to mark the spot on the field where he placed the ball.
The warning came after Maher’s first extra point attempt, a miss. Coincidentally, he went on to have the worst game of his career, missing four extra points in a row before finally hitting one.
“I hadn’t seen any memo or discussion about it,” Fassel said. “I didn’t even know about it until our holder came up to tell me what happened. Supposedly, it was emphasized all season but it’s never been brought up to me my whole career.”
Fassel reaffirmed that it wasn’t “an excuse by any means” for Maher’s miserable outing, the first time in NFL history a kicker has missed four extra points in the same game.
“Just very unique to have that happened,” the coach said.
Eagles kicker Jake Elliott found himself in a bit of controversy after being accused of “cheating” by using an object to line up his kicks. However, he too has insisted that it has never been enforced throughout his career.
“We’ve always used something that’s within the rules,” Elliott said to NJ.com. “It’s just literally to mark the spot. It’s part of the playing surface, like a piece of grass or something like that.”
According to Football Zebras, which originally reported the crackdown, the Chiefs, Lions and Commanders had all been breaking the rule.
It remains to be seen if the rule “change” will have any impact on the eight teams remaining in the NFL playoffs. Dallas signed another kicker, former Charger and 49er Tristan Vizcaino, to its practice squad ahead of their Sunday game against the 49ers.
Elliott and the Eagles face the Giants on Saturday night in the Divisional Round of the NFL playoffs.
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