Rich McKay: “We were able to make sausage in one day”

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Not only did the NFL change rules in a significant way, they did it in a hurry.

Competition committee chairman Rich McKay said he was happy the league got to a “good place” with the change to the replay rules, especially considering the pace of the change.

“We were able to make sausage in one day,” McKay said.

Unlike past years, when rules changes were voted on while coaches were out playing golf or out of the meeting, input from coaches appeared to be crucial to this rule being changed. From Saints coach Sean Payton and Cowboys coach Jason Garrett advocating for the change, the membership voted 31-1 to approve the measure (the Bengals were the traditional no vote).

McKay said there was concern about the part of the rule that allowed an uncalled penalty to be called, and that it took some arm-twisting to get the change put into effect.

Commissioner Roger Goodell said it was based on the near-unanimous desire to make sure the results were correct.

“People compromised on long-held views because people wanted to get it right,” Goodell said.

There were months of meetings leading up to this, but this rapid change comes after last year’s sudden expansion of the lowering the helmet rule.