Does Faking an Injury Violate NFL Rules? Recent “Injuries” Prompt Calls for Review

The NFL faces a tough dilemma following the New York Giants’ Week Two win against the St. Louis Rams on ESPN’s Monday Night Football.

As quarterback Sam Bradford and the Rams’ offense began to pick apart the Giants’ defense in the first half of Monday’s game, two Giants players, Deon Butler and Jacquain Williams simultaneously suffered “injuries,” allowing the Giants an opportunity to sub-in an extra defensive lineman to go with the three-man line already on the field. Did these “injuries,” whose apparent falsity drew commentary from ESPN’s announcers, violate NFL rules?

If they did, they were just the latest in the long line of players to fake an injury for strategic advantage. The NFL does not keep statistics on such “injuries,” but tight end Bren Celek of the Philadelphia Eagles was “injured” in similar fashion in the Eagles’ Week Two loss to the Atlanta Falcons. In this case, Celek appeared to go down to give Eagles quarterback Michael Vick extra time to receive attention after a brutal hit. In the 2008 season, some Denver Broncos players as much as admitted to faking injuries to gain an advantage. So are players just stretching the rules in fair strategic moves to help their teams? Or are fake injuries a violation of NFL rules?

NFL rules do not appear to address faked player injuries. Although the rules do address a variety of thorny substitution issues, such as how long a substituted-for offensive player may linger on the field and the opportunity the offensive must give the defense to match-up following offensive substitutions, the rules fail to address faked injuries. Rather, an injured player must simply sit out at least one play before returning to action in substitute for another player.

Theoretically, the referee could deem a faked injury unsportsmanlike conduct and assess a penalty, but in the absence of rulebook guidance on the issue, that seems unlikely. The Official Rules express sensitivity to teams’ efforts to use subterfuge and deception to gain advantages from substitution, so clearly the league recognizes that substitution rules can be manipulated. With these “injuries” showcased in the NFL’s precious prime-time jewel, Monday Night Football, Commissioner Goodell will now face calls to review NFL rules for ways to address the problem.

Of course, in days past, players simply had too much pride to fake an injury. And that’s one thing that Goddell can’t reduce to a rule.


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