NFL owners vote no on replay review of roughing the passer

PHOENIX – Roughing the passer penalties will remain a play that cannot be challenged after NFL owners rejected a proposal to make them reviewable Tuesday at the Annual League Meeting.

That proposal, which had been submitted by the Los Angeles Rams, failed to get enough votes to pass the muster.

“I think there’s a resistance in general to having fouls reviewed, including myself. I’m resistant to that,” said Steelers president Art Rooney II. “I think that’s probably the biggest part of it. There’s just so much subjectivity into the call. I don’t know that replay adds anything to getting it right.”

Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin, who sits on the influential Competition Committee, wasn’t in favor of opening roughing the passer penalties up to challenges, either.

The Competition Committee reviewed 80 roughing the passer penalties from the 2022 season and found only three that would have been considered questionable upon review.

“We looked at a lot of it. We analyzed it because it is a hot-button topic,” Tomlin said. “There’s a lot of emotions when those flags fall on the ground, because usually, it’s a significant play and often occurs in significant moments. But based on the analysis of what we saw, I respected the level of officiating that the play was given. Sometimes our reactions are just that: emotional.”

Owners also declined to approve a proposal to spot the ball at the 25-yard line on a touchback from a punt and to have the ball spotted at the 25 on a fair catch made on a kickoff inside the 25. Those proposals were tabled until May’s meeting.