Charging the Mound

You can call it the New Orleans rule. They’re calling it the new overtime formula. I’m just calling it the Brett Favre rule.

Later this month at the annual owner’s meeting in Orlando, Fla., the league’s competition committee will propose a revamped overtime rule.

The plan, as it’s currently proposed, would give each team a chance to touch the football, allowing the coin-flip-losing team to at least match a field goal by the flip-winning team.

If that sounds confusing, then it gets worse. Sudden death rules still apply in the case of a touchdown: If the coin-flip-winning team scores six, then it’s game over.

But if that same team manages only a field goal during the opening possession, then their opponents will get a chance to at least match field goals or win the game via the touchdown.

If the latter team only matches the field goal, the game would then revert back to the classic sudden-death format of years’ past.

The rule is long-winded, and it’s unclear how a safety or a defensive touchdown would apply, but the rule is by no means set in stone. The NFL is simply trying to improve its product, and that’s a win for everyone involved.

The plan would require a three-quarters majority vote from owners to pass and would be eligible for the playoffs only.

Some would say that this is a clear reaction to Favre’s regulation-ending interception against the Saints during January’s NFC Championship. And who’s to argue?

The no-doubt hall-of-famer was picked off by the Saints’ Tracy Porter and was then forced to watch helplessly as the Saints took his last realistic shot at Lombardi glory.

What would the NFL’s response have been if the key pick occurred to Chad Henne or Matt Ryan? Would anyone really care?

Whether you like Brett Favre or not, the NFL is a quarterback-driven league that’s always looking to keep the game’s elite in the mainstream.

As great of a story as the hometown Saints were, is there any doubt that the league would have preferred the Favre Circus over the New Orleans party?

Regardless of the reason, this is a matter of football fairness. Too many times has an elite team been driven to playoff overtime and been denied the football just because a cheap field goal ended the game.

How long is it before the current overtime controversy strikes the near-50-year-old Super Bowl? The NFL had rather not think about it.

So instead, the always-proactive NFL will consider other options.

In the end, the league may still decide to keep the current rules. And if they do, the NFL will look as polished as ever, showing an ever-growing commitment to competition and fan service.

And with a lockout and uncapped season looming, public relation has never seemed more important.