Not a poll, because... impossible; no one has the bandwidth. Just a thread inspired by the one on Goodell saying the NFL's looking at making PATs automatic unless teams choose to try a 2 PAT (and get none if they fail.) Actually, by the general reaction to that thread: That football should be like it used to be—even though football's NEVER been like it "used to be." Ever since Walter Camp changed rugby into football around 1870 (or at least helped, the original origin's obscure) football's been changing, as it likely always will.
Some comments on todays NFL being so different from what it was like growing up got me thinking about the many ways (some big, others not) it had ALREADY changed THEN from what it was like when I was a kid, and how it changed in my childhood from the game older people knew as a kid. I remembered most big ones from my pre-adult years (e.g. expansion both during and after my childhood, expanded playoffs as I finished HS, instant replaly arriving, leaving, then arriving again, radio helmets going from banned to standard.)
Scanning the list, several I'd forgotten surprised me almost as much as they enrage me everytime I'm reminded of them. The two big ones that probably don't seem big to anyone else are:
1) Since 1993 the clock no longer stops on ALL plays out of bounds, only in the final 2:00 of the first half and final 5:00 of the second. Not that I really WANTED NE to come back Sunday, but let's face it: The first time they got the ball in the second half they were down 17, because we'd just burned 7:05 off the clock with our longest drive all season. It probably wouldn't have been as long if we'd had to worry about going out of bounds, and I doubt the Pats were thinking, "it's OK; as long as there's >5:00 left we don't need lots of points in a hurry."
2) The 30 second play clock gave way to 45. This may be the lamest rule ever, because whenever a trailing teams outs of time outs at the 2:00 Warning and their opponent has the ball, the game's over; we're just watching the commercial break for the Hell of it. "Used to be" different; even inside 2:00, you had to make at least OEN first down or give them a shot.
If we're all about speeding up play and making the game more exciting for TV ratings, why do offenses need an extra 15 seconds to get back to the line and snap the ball? So we can have an infinite series of audibles and re-audibles? Roger Staubach managed to run plays without Delay of Game penalties.
3) The second playoff team. I REALLY hate this, not just because it dilutes the playoffs with 9-7 and 8-8 teams, but because the wildcard was supposed to be for the best of the rest. It was to ensure all REAL contenders reached the tournament of champions, not ensure no decent team missed it. The OLD wildcard race was fraught and filled with many teams, because there was only one, so the race started early and winning out was a prerequisite: SOMEONE would win out; if you didn't: Too bad; guess you're not the best of the rest.
I really can't convey how much I hate #6 seeds. In the 33 years (so far...) of TWO #6 seeds/year, that's how many have won a SB: Two (the '05 Steelers and '10 Pack, and there's a good argument we and Indy both choked against the '05 Steelers, who benefited from many infamous calls in the SB.) It doesn't give pretty good teams a chance to win, it gives really good teams a chance to LOSE to spoilers they don't take seriously. Gee, I wonder why so many #1 seeds miss the SB all of a sudden.
Worst division winner plays best non-division winner while everyone else watches; then the REAL playoffs start. In the modern era, 10/32 teams would reach the postseason, which is just about right, IMHO. Far less than 50% (thankfully) yet far more than 25% (again, thankfull.) Close to 33%, almost perfect. And you don't have 7-4 teams slacking off because, hey, we can't get a bye, and probably can't win our division, but as long as we win 2-3 of our last 5, we'll get SOME playoff berth as one of "the best."
On the other hand, two rules I really like are replay review and the addition of the 2 PAT, so teams aren't down 2 scores until they trail by >16, but when they trail by >14 they need some real extra effort to close the gap even with 2 TDs. THAT'S exciting in a way I don't think ever intended; I certainly never anticipated it (then again, I avoid the SECAA like the plague.) I just wish coaches could challenge calls till they ran out of time outs—but then a coach might prove the NFL WRONG more than once or MAYBE twice in a game; can't have that.
I don't think most people (probably including me) realize just how MUCH the game has changed since the days when forward passes were illegal, offenses didn't need 7 (or any) men on the LoS and first downs conversions were obtained by moving the ball 5 yds forward or 10 yds BACK in 3 downs (if anyone's ever wondered why the CFL uses 3 downs: That's why.) Even after the pass became legal, teams still had to be 5 yds behind the LoS to throw until Bronko Nagurski threw a championship winning TD to Red Grange in 1932 and the NFL retroactively legalized it.
Speaking of Canada, Walter Camps also why we use 11 players and they use 12: A visiting Eton soccer team told him 11 was more efficient, so football changed. Again. American rugby's come a long way since Harvard, Yale and Eton (of all places) turned it into football. Still not far enough to prevent us winning the last two Olympic gold medals in rugby.
Anyway, the 1932 NFL Championship was a huge game for rules by itself: It revoked the ban on postseason play (because Portsmouth and Chicago finished the season tied, forcing a playoff,) and, because the indoor stadium was WAY too small, introduced hashmarks and moved the goal posts from the end line to the goal line, where they stayed until after SB VII. And people say modern rules have unmade the game they grew up playing; I can only imagine the reaction to those 4 rule changes, 3 of which were pretty huge.
The point is the NFL's changed nearly every year of its existence, making "when I was a kid" significantly different even for people just 5-10 years older/younger than others. That in turn provides ample fodder for people to claim it's better/worse than it was, even to the point that rules some people "grew up with" remain "new" to otehrs. Even the NFLs official site doesn't include all of them, but I need a list people can peruse, so here it is: http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap100...ackback-blocks
Here's another good one; it only goes through '03, but includes some NFL.com missed (like the rescinded 1956 ban on radios in helmets:)http://www.sportsattic.com/araig/NflRulesHistory.htm
Note: PLEASE don't say, "the forward pass" is your favorite new rule. We all like that, but the 7 man line requirement created at the same time probably changed the game more. That original sweeping player safety rule surely saved more lives than all others combined: Wedge plays KILLED 19 players in 1905, prompting President Roosevelt to threaten a ban he had power to enforce. A hastily formed college commission responded by legalizing passes, requiring 7 man lines, banning wedges and incidentally founding the NCAA.
Naturally, long time fans decried such sissification killing the game they'd loved since childhood: http://paleofuture.gizmodo.com/19-fo...orm-1277528900
After all that: Which do/es everyone love most? And hate most? Which had the biggest impact? Again, please don't say, "the pass;" think a little.