League Rejects 'Hester Rule'

Apr/02/08 08:21 AM Filed in: Devin Hester
DevinHester
The NFL has no interest in doing Devin Hester any favors, so there will be no "Devin Hester rule" passed any time soon.

In recent weeks, the league considered legislating against punting out of bounds—which teams did frequently when opposing Hester last season. A survey was sent to head coaches and general managers to get their reaction to such a rule, but the response was overwhelmingly against changing what often is a strategic move to trap an opponent inside his own 20-yard line rather than kicking into the end zone for a touchback.

The NFL's competition committee also had a discussion about enacting a new rule, but it didn't go very far.

"Directional kicking is a difficult thing to do," said Colts President Bill Polian, a member of the competition committee. "We saw no evidence that [punting out of bounds] is growing in use. So it's not an issue we had a lot of concern about. Very few people can do it, and the odds of it backfiring on you are pretty high. If you shank it, it's 20 yards, not 40. It's a tough skill to execute."

"I could tell you from our own personal experience that it's very difficult to do. [Colts punter Hunter Smith] has an awfully hard time with it."

(chicagosports.chicagotribune.com)