Originally Posted by ESPN

Apparently, the NFL is serious about putting safety first at this year's owners meeting.

Owners passed four safety proposals Tuesday morning, a full day before they normally pass any rules involving action on the field. In past meetings, owners usually wait until Wednesdays to debate and vote on rule changes involving the game. The Competition Committee makes its annual report to owners on Monday, giving supporters or opponents an extra day to lobby for votes.

When it came to safety this year, there was apparently no debate. Starting this fall, the NFL is going to outlaw the "wedge" on kickoffs, stop the bunching of players on onside kicks, protect blockers from a helmet-to-helmet hit from the blindside and save receivers from forearm or shoulder hits to the head when they appear to be defenseless.

The safety change for the onside kick may seem to be a minor adjustment, but it became more important when the Competition Committee watched tape of violent collisions on onside kicks.

In recent years, the league has tried to make onside kicks safer. Special teams coaches, however, found ways around those changes to group more players in smaller areas to gain an advantage. Under the new rule, players on the kickoff team will be spaced accordingly. First, at least four players of the kicking team must be on each side of the kicker. Second, at least three players must be lined up outside each inbounds line, including one who must be outside the yard-line number.

The "wedge" has been part of kickoff returns seemingly forever. The wedge is simply three players lined up in a blocking triangle that a returner follows as it plows up the field against kickoff coverage. After watching years of tape, the Competition Committee felt the wedge was causing too many injuries. Starting this fall, no more than two receiver team players may intentionally form a wedge to help the returner. The penalty is 15 yards and will be enforced from the spot of the wedge. It will be called if three or more players line up shoulder to shoulder within two yards of each other to lead the blocking.

The third accepted proposal involves a play in which Pittsburgh Steelers receiver Hines Ward made a block that resulted in a broken jaw for Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Keith Rivers. A 15-yard penalty will be enforced if a player delivers a blindside block to the head of a defender using his helmet, forearm or shoulder. The penalty will be enforced if a helmet, shoulder or forearm strikes the head or neck of the defender.

The final change adds forearm and shoulder hits to protect defenseless receivers. In the past, officials gave an unnecessary roughness penalty to a defender if he delivered a helmet hit to a receiver going across the middle of the field or any spot on the field in which he appeared to be defenseless. Starting this fall, the penalty will also apply if the defender hits the defenseless receiver in the head or neck with his forearm or shoulder.

Originally Posted by ESPN

DANA POINT, Calif. -- Ed Hochuli and other NFL referees can rest easier after team owners passed a rule Wednesday allowing video replays on a loose ball that could be either a fumble or an incomplete pass.

Hochuli famously ruled Denver Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler to have thrown an incomplete pass in the final moments of a Week 2 game with the San Diego Chargers last season. Replays clearly showed it was a fumble that the Chargers recovered, but the play was not part of the review process. Denver kept the ball and won the game seconds later.

Now it is reviewable.

The NFL's competition committee used a similar application as when it added video reviews of down-by-contact plays involving a fumble.

Also, replay can now be used to determine if a loose ball hit the sideline. A Cardinals kickoff in January's NFC Championship Game was ruled to have gone out of bounds even though it was recovered in bounds by Arizona. Replays showed the ball never hit or crossed the sideline.

The owners eliminated a rekick after an illegal onside kick, awarding the ball immediately to the receiving team.

The draft order for playoff teams was reworked and will be based on where teams were eliminated in the postseason. Last season, the Chargers (8-8) beat the Colts (12-4) in a wild-card game, but San Diego will pick before Indianapolis in next month's draft. The new procedure begins in 2010.

A waiver period during the first two weeks of training camp was established. Owners also reworded when the postseason waiver period begins -- previously it was after the Pro Bowl. In the future, the Super Bowl will be played after the Pro Bowl in some seasons, and the waiver period will begin after the final postseason game.

Finally, on all fumbles and laterals that go out of bounds, the clock will start when the referee signals ready for play.