NFL warns all teams about pregame rules following OBJ suspension
The NFL doesn’t want to see a repeat of the ugly Odell Beckham Jr.-Josh Norman on-field brawl from the Carolina Panthers-New York Giants game on Sunday and sent a reminder to the other 30 teams in an effort to prevent it.
Shutdown Corner has learned that the league sent out a memo to all 32 teams on Tuesday, hoping to avoid the violent contact that led to Beckham receiving a one-game suspension for his actions, targeting Norman on a helmet-to-helmet hit.
NFL executive vice president of football operations Troy Vincent sent out the following memo:
As part of our responsibility to protect the integrity of the game, please be reminded that no foreign objects unrelated to the uniform or playing equipment are permitted on the playing field and sidelines on game day (which includes the pre-game period, during the game, and postgame on the field).
While we realize that teams and individual players may have items they use for motivation or to symbolize a theme that the team has used this season, we ask that you instruct your club personnel and players to leave those items in the locker room. For the purposes of this policy, “foreign objects” broadly encompasses any item that is neither intrinsic to the game nor necessary to conduct pregame drills and treat and prepare players for the game. To be clear, items such as massage rollers, agility ladders, medicine balls, and any equipment to assist the medical and athletic training staffs in treating players are permitted.
Please advise players and personnel that they will be subject to discipline for any violations of the policy set forth above.
A league source told Yahoo! Sports that the league could also look into player conduct this offseason with an eye towards interaction during pre-game to limit incidents like this from happening in the future. The idea, the source said, would be to limit players communicating with each other to keep tempers from boiling over.
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Kristian R. Dyer writes for Metro New York and is a contributor to Yahoo Sports. Follow him on Twitter @KristianRDyer. Email him at [email protected]
