On Thursday night, football fans were reminded of one of the NFL’s most contentious rules, one that has sparked debates across social media and beyond, when Minnesota Viking Justin Jefferson dove for the pylon and fumbled into the back of the end zone. Just one yard away from the end zone, the rule gave the Eagles possession of the ball at their own 20 yard line. Section 7, Article 3, Item 4: “When a fumble goes out of bounds in the end zone, the following shall apply: If a ball is fumbled in the field of play, and goes forward into the opponent’s end zone and over the end line or sideline, a touchback is awarded to the defensive team.” Immediately, shouts began ringing through social media about this rule being the worst rule in sports. These claims are greatly exaggerated, in my opinion — I don’t even think it is the worst rule in football. By maintaining possession in such a scenario, the offense would effectively eliminate the risk involved in diving for the pylon. In fact, this rule doesn’t go far enough. It should extend to all sideline situations. Why should an offense be rewarded if they fumble the ball out of bounds? In sports like soccer or basketball, the team that last touches the ball before it goes out of bounds concedes possession to the opposing team. So, why does the NFL (and American football in general) reward the same behavior? This got me thinking about the actual worst rules in sports. So here’s a list, in no particular order, where I will be releasing my rage on certain rules.
1. Offsetting Penalties (NFL)
If you’ve ever watched the NFL, you know the joy of your favorite team either getting bailed out or screwed by the wonder that is offsetting penalties. The rule states, “If there is a Double Foul during the down, and the fouls offset, the down is replayed, and the number of the down remains the same.” This may seem logical at first, but offsetting almost every set of fouls comes to be ridiculous.
Consider this scenario: A blatant 50-yard pass interference penalty is committed by the defense — a big win for the offense. However, just moments before the snap, a receiver fails to set properly, resulting in a minor 5-yard penalty for an illegal shift. What’s the result? You guessed it — the down is replayed. It doesn’t quite add up, does it?
This can also happen in more serious instances, such as personal fouls. In the play below, Cam Newton gets absolutely rocked, while also committing intentional grounding. Clearly, the end result of Newton’s pass not reaching the line of scrimmage was affected by the roughing the passer penalty, which is more severe in this case. While not a foolproof solution, maybe we could consider doing some simple subtraction here? A 50 yard penalty minus a 5 yard penalty could become… a 45-yard penalty? Just an idea.
2. Fouling Up 3 (NBA)
The NBA has no shortage of bad rules, but one particular rule that doesn't receive enough attention is the practice of fouling when a team is up by three points late in a game. If you're unfamiliar with this concept, when an NBA team is leading by three points with less than 20 seconds remaining, it's common nowadays for them to intentionally foul the opposing team. The rationale behind this strategy is to prevent the offensive team from attempting a game-tying three-pointer while simultaneously eating up precious seconds on the game clock. Instead of a fun finish, this strategy sends the opposition to the free-throw line for two shots, all but sealing their fate. This rule completely ruins the ending to some games. When you see this situation coming to life, you oftentimes tune out of the game — if not, turn it off entirely. And if your favorite team happens to be on the receiving end of this strategy, well, the inevitable outcome is merely postponed.
In the clip below, Klay Thompson shoots a rushed three to tie the game with 10.5 seconds left. This is not even close to the best shot the Warriors can create in the time remaining, but they have to force it up. Otherwise, the Nuggets are going to foul, and the Warriors are going to get two free throws — which won’t help them in the long run. This shot made Thompson the joke of NBA Twitter for the night, but it was one he had to take.
Not only does this make players force up bad shots and ruin end-of-game scenarios, it also extends games for minimal reason. Suns-Clippers Game 4 in the 2021 Western Conference Finals illustrates this point brilliantly. The Suns fouled up 3 — FOUR times. In less than 14 seconds of game time! Why would anyone want to voluntarily see this? Clippers fans watched the time slowly tick off the clock, while they could not even muster up a potential game-tying three. The obvious solution here is the FIBA rule — make it a flagrant foul (1 free throw + the ball). However, this can be hard to judge in the NBA, especially considering how the players are just as good at acting as they are at basketball…
3. Uncaught Third Strike (MLB)
I understand the history of this rule. The uncaught third strike rule predates the concept of called strikes entirely, meaning that this instance was actually treated as a groundball. However, it’s 2023, and runners can still advance after striking out. Why? I don’t have much to say about this one. And I will admit, baseball is the sport I’m probably least qualified to talk about. This, though, is the most prevalent and bonkers rule in the sport. There’s probably a dumber one out there, but I decided to choose one that we see so often and overlook. Baseball is full of horrible rules though, so here are some honorable mentions:
- runner interference (at first base)
- no salary floor
- the balk (you could tell me 1,000 times what a balk is, and I still wouldn’t be able to notice it)
4. The Clock (Soccer)
Soccer definitely has its rule, let’s say, idiosyncrasies, but the one that irks me the most is how the clock is managed. While the FA has tightened up their stance on time-wasting in the English leagues this year, this has not carried over to other European competitions. Even with the additional time, we are seeing less than 60 minutes of in-play football per match. It’s frustrating. My concern isn’t that I want soccer to turn into a game of counting every second, but rather, something must be done to combat time-wasting. Especially when a goal is scored in stoppage time, referees seem to be extremely stringent on the amount of time they allow afterwards. There will be a free kick awarded with two minutes left in the game, and somehow, it’ll be the last kick of the match. Honorable mention here to the yellow card for taking off your shirt rule. That’s a weird one. This video from Zealand explains time-wasting quite well and was my inspiration for putting it on this list:
Having aired my grievances against some of the worst rules in sports (and pled my case in favor of the fumble/touchback rule), it’s time for me to sign off. But before I go, I’d love to hear your thoughts. Which rules did I miss out on? I’m sure there are plenty!
