Outgoing Canadian Football League commissioner Tom Wright said this week that the interpretation of blocking rules on punt and kick returns will be reviewed after this season because of concern they have made games less entertaining.
The league's rules committee tightened the definition of legal blocks on returns last winter, resulting in far more flags that nullified big gains or touchdown returns this season.
Touchdowns scored off punt or kick returns dropped from 14 a year ago to two this past regular season. In addition, teams regularly had big returns flagged, resulting in poor field position.
Wright and others believe the penalties resulting from the blocking rule interpretation are a big part of why scoring and excitement were down in league this season.
"Our signature plays, the returns, dropped like a stone," Wright said.
Wright believes other factors also contributed to lower-scoring games this season, such as the expanded roster size, the Ottawa Renegades' dispersal draft, which deepened rosters for special-teams play, and the scheduling of back-to-back games. But he said the league's experience with the blocking-return rule interpretation has driven it to broaden the method by which rule changes are approved.
In the past, rule changes went from the rules committee directly to the board of governors. Changes in rule interpretations, such as in the case of blocking on returns, were handled within the rules committee alone. Now, however, all new rules or modifications to existing rules with also go through the presidents' council, which is made up of club executives.
"The presidents' council will review what's recommended as well as what's not recommended," Wright said. "It's a more balanced approach between the rules that uphold the integrity of the game on the field as well as those that improve the entertainment for the fan.
"Typically, rule changes have been looked at from football people, but we need more balance. We need a process that allows more people to look at it."
Wright said that in addition to reviewing the interpretation of illegal blocks on returns, the league would also likely look at enhancing the return game by penalizing teams in some situations for punting the ball out of bounds.
