The 40 second play clock

OK this is something that has driven me crazy for way too long. The NFL has had the 40 second play clock for some time now. College as you know just started it this year. As I sat around watching the NFL games yesterday again this phenomenon that is the 40 second play clock about drove me nuts.

Why the heck does any team College or professional need a 40 second play clock? Does it really take that long to get a play in? That’s over half a minute just to snap the ball. I mean really what are these offensive coordinators doing that they are allowed 2 min. 40 seconds every time they get a first down? And think about this a team could theoretically start kneeling the ball (in the NFL) right after the 2:00 warning and run the game clock out. Of course most teams should manage their timeouts to not allow this however this brings up another point.

How many times have you seen teams burn up timeouts because they’ve been unable to get the play off in time? I mean from the time the last play ended and 40 seconds after that what the heck are these players, teams and coaches doing? Oh wait a second I know, moving at a snail’s pace to get up to the line, walking in substitutions (not really running), showing no sense of urgency especially when their team is losing by a score or two. (Note here, watch an NFL game and observe the lack of urgency by everyone on the team that is losing when there is little time left in the 4th quarter, its amazing)

Solution: Reduce the 40 second play clock to 30 seconds. That gives you more plays per game, which helps us as fans get a little more of our money’s worth. This would improve the urgency of players showing no motivation and not allow a team to burn up almost three minutes just kneeling the ball to end a game. So before anyone disagrees with me on this think about something. When a play ends who really needs to know what to do next? The quarterback right? So when a play ends the other 10 players on the field hustle up to the area where the ball was downed, wait for your QB to get the play, or wait for a substituting player to bring the play in, wait for the QB to relay the play to everyone and then get ready for the next play. If you’ve practiced all year each player should know what to do when give the play, it’s not like the QB is telling each player what route to run every time they run a play. That’s something more know in backyard flag football games.

End this 40 second play clock madness please.