Regardless of the supporters for the sudden-death overtime, the NFL has moved forward and made a significant change to its overtime policy, though it will only take effect come playoff time.  Amidst clamoring that the sudden-death overtime based on a coin toss was unfair, NFL owners voted in a landslide victory to update the policy, which again proves that the NFL is far and away the most efficient league around and is willing to update its rules and regulations to fit an ever-evolving professional sports landscape.

Instead of the usual sudden-death overtime, if the first team with the ball kicks a field goal, the second team will still have a chance to match the score.  If the second team matches the score, then they will move on to a sudden-death overtime.  However, if the second team scores a touchdown, then the game will be over, which is somewhat similar to the way that the college overtime is handled right now.  A touchdown on any possession will end the game.

How the rule change will actually affect the 2010 season will not be known, as we may not even have an overtime game in the postseason next year, but the NFL has announced loud and clear that it is willing to listen to fans.  After Brett Favre and his Minnesota Vikings remained on the sidelines as the New Orleans Saints marched down the field in overtime of last season’s NFC Championship game, fans immediately began complaining that the sudden-death overtime rule was not fair for the team that did not win the toss.

Even though statistically the sudden-death overtime proved to be mostly fair, fans used to seeing college football overtimes simply could not accept having one offense sit out the extra time period when something could be done to rectify the situation.  <a rel=”nofollow” onclick=”javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview(’/outgoing/article_exit_link’);” href=”http://www.stubhub.com/nfl-tickets/”>NFL tickets</a> are already a hot commodity all year long, though the rule change could help them even further come playoff time.

But the NFL was wise not to give in too much to the demands of fans, who would likely enjoy seeing a college overtime for both the regular season and playoffs.  Though the college overtime certainly is exciting, it also doesn’t much resemble the actual game of football, which is why it has as many critics as it has backers.  In the college OT, the clock stops and the game proceeds possession by possession.  While football is typically played with a clock and starts with a kickoff, college overtime does not, which would make it an awkward fit in the NFL.

The other major reason that the NFL didn’t consider adopting a change to the regular season is because of the added risk of injury.  Players are always at more of a risk during longer games statistically, making a long, possession-by-possession overtime an unacceptable risk for franchise players worth millions of dollar to their team.  As it is, a team that plays in an overtime game the week before is already at a statistical disadvantage the following week, which would only increase if the overtime was lengthened.

Ultimately, the rule change itself isn’t that significant, though it eliminates some of the controversy surrounding the coin toss and won’t allow a team to simply settle for a field goal if they get the ball first. However, the new overtime is a logistical rule change that is a nice hybrid between the sudden-death overtime and the college format and is further evidence as to why the NFL remains ahead of the other professional sports leagues in the country.