Decades ago, the NFL replaced analog scoreboard clocks that displayed the time remaining in games on clock hands and dials with digital scoreboard clocks that counted down the seconds with numerals. Now the Eagles would like another scoreboard advancement.
One of the proposed changes to NFL playing rules brought forward last week was a proposal by the Eagles to require game clocks to display tenths of seconds for the final 30 seconds of each half.
Using tenths of a second is already done in basketball and some other sports, for those last-minute situations when the difference between 2.9 seconds remaining and 2.0 seconds remaining might be significant. The Eagles want to bring it to the NFL as well.
The precise wording of the Eagles’ proposed addition to NFL bylaws is: “The game clocks will display game time in accordance with all NFL Playing Rules and will count down in one second increments except in the last 30 seconds of the 2nd and 4th quarter, when the clocks will transition to a countdown in tenths of seconds.”
Will the proposal be adopted? One potential problem, according to Kalyn Kahler of TheAthletic.com, is that many scoreboards in the NFL use fixed-digit displays that would need to be replaced to properly show time remaining in tenths of seconds. Some owners may balk at that expense.
The Eagles’ proposal would need the support of at least 24 of the 32 owners to pass.
Eagles propose requiring game clocks to display tenths of seconds originally appeared on Pro Football Talk