NFL to alter position for umpires

Question

NFL to alter position for umpires
The NFL introduced a new rule this season that would call for the umpire to change his position on the field. There have already been some difficulties with the new rule in the pre-season and it is being reported that the league will tweak the rule.
The rule that was originally introduced was that umpires would have to line up 14-17 yards behind the offensive line. That would mean the umpire would have to place the ball then run back to his position then go back to the line and so on. That was changed to 12 yards so that the ball could be spotted quicker. The reason for this was due to safety. The umpire’s traditional spot has been behind the linebackers on the defensive side and that led to referees getting run into by players. The umpire will now be in that original spot only during the final two minutes of the first and second half.
The Indianapolis Colts complained about the rule after their latest pre-season game in Green Bay. The Colts like to run a no-huddle offence and always look good doing it but the rule yielded problems. The Colts were penalized twice for snapping the ball before the umpire was in position.
The newest tweaks by the competition committee made the rule so that the umpire only has to be spotted behind the last player on the offensive side of the ball. The quarterbacks will also be able to look at officials on the sidelines to receive the go-ahead to snap the ball instead of having to look back at the umpire.
The tweak to the rule should speed things back up while at the same time maintaining the safety that the league had in mind when they made this new rule. Umpires were getting run into by players too often and rather than penalize the players, the league simply made things safer for the umpires and now players won’t have to worry about running into an official in the middle of the field.