1999 NFL Season - Major Rule Changes

Major Rule Changes

• Clipping is now illegal around the line of scrimmage just as it is on the rest of the field.
• A new instant replay system (different from the one used from 1986 to 1991) is adopted to aid officiating. The system mirrors a method used by the defunct USFL in 1985:
  • In each game, each team has two challenges that will start a review. Each challenge will require the use of a team's timeout. If the challenge is successful, the timeout is restored.
  • Inside of two minutes of each half, and during all overtime periods, all reviews will be initiated by a Replay Assistant. The Replay Assistant has an unlimited number of reviews, regardless of how many timeouts each team has left. And no timeout will be charged for any review by the Replay Assistant.
  • All replay reviews will be conducted by the referee on a field-level monitor. A decision will be reversed only when there is indisputable visual evidence to overturn the call. The referee has 90 seconds to review the play.
  • The officials will be notified of a replay request or challenge via a specialized electronic pager with a vibrating alert. Each head coach would also have a red flag to use as a backup to get the attention of the officials to challenge a play.
  • The replay system will only cover the following situations:
    • Scoring plays
    • Pass complete/incomplete/intercepted
    • Runner/receiver out of bounds
    • Recovery of a loose ball in or out of bounds
    • Touching of a forward pass, either by an ineligible receiver or a defensive player
    • Quarterback pass or fumble
    • Illegal forward pass
    • Forward or backward pass
    • Runner ruled not down by contact
    • Forward progress in regard to a first down
    • Touching of a kick
    • Too many men on the field

The league also added the following then-minor rule change that became significant in the playoffs a few years later:

When a Team A player is holding the ball to pass it forward, any intentional forward movement of his hand starts a forward pass, even if the player loses possession of the ball as he is attempting to tuck it back toward his body. Also, if the player has tucked the ball into his body and then loses possession, it is a fumble.

This new interpretation of a forward pass would later be commonly known as the "Tuck Rule".