NFL’s crackdown on kickers using ‘foreign objects’ to line up field goals leads to confusion

The NFL recently began cracking down on kickers using ‘foreign objects’ to line up their kicks, but it seems the new enforcement of the rule has led to surprise and confusion among coaches and kickers around the league.

The use of ‘foreign objects’ has always been illegal. However it has been very loosely officiated over the years, allowing players to get away with using items like a blade of grass to mark where they would like the ball placed.

‘I hadn’t seen any memo or discussion about it,’ Dallas Cowboys special teams coordinator John Fassel said. ‘I didn’t even know about it until our owner came up to tell me what happened.

‘Supposedly, it was emphasized all season, but it’s never been brought up to me my whole career.’

Following Cowboys kicker Brett Maher’s first missed field goal En route to a historically horrid performance that saw him miss four field goals, Dallas received a warning from the officials about the use of ‘foreign objects.’

Fassel would go on to say it was not an excuse for Maher’s historically bad performance in the rest of the game.

Philadelphia Eagles kicker Jake Elliot also found himself in controversy recently after being accused of cheating over the same rule.

‘We’ve always used something that’s within the rules,’ Elliott said. It’s just literally to mark the spot. It’s part of the playing surface, like a piece of grass or something like that.’

‘When we talked to them, we explained what we’re doing, and they saw what we were doing,’ Elliott said, according to NJ.com.

It’s just a point of emphasis, and someone makes it bigger than it is. Everything we’ve done has been completely legal.’

The Kansas City Chiefs, Detroit Lions and Washington Commanders had reportedly all spoken about breaking the rule as well.