The NFL is reportedly attempting to crack down on players “faking” injuries in order to stop the game.
Pro Football Talk reported Sunday that the league sent a memo to all 32 teams on Friday promising possible repercussions for “deliberate actions to delay the game.”
“Punishment possible for teams, coaches, players. Suspensions and/or forfeiture of draft picks are possible,” PFT’s Mike Florio tweeted.
Judging by the reaction to the PFT report, it seems like fans are waiting to see if and how these rules may be enforced.
“Can’t wait for a Saints player to have his foot literally come off his leg in an injury during a game and they lose draft picks for it,” said one New Orleans fan who is aware of the history the franchise has with controversial calls.
Other people made note of a situational in this afternoon’s Chiefs-Bengals game in which it seemed like a Cincinnati player was pretending to be injured in order to stop the action.
“And now the plot thickens. Unusual that a memo would be issued on a Friday (after a game has already been played this week) but this is a recurring memo over time with no large-scale repercussions,” said the Football Zebras Twitter account.
“Oh Cincinnati is gonna get hit hard then. That was the worst fake injury I have seen in a while,” tweeted DolphinsTalk.com.
“Bengals didn’t get the memo,” added NFL analyst Ross Tucker.
“You will never be able to prove someone faked an injury,” added another skeptical fan.
Let’s see if the league is serious about these measures or simply paying lip service.