After experimenting with instant replay on pass interference in 2019, the NFL decided to scrap the controversial rule after just one season. However, at least one player would like to see the league dust off the rule and bring it back.
During the latest episode of his "It Needed to be Said" podcast, Dolphins star Tyreek Hill revealed that he actually liked the rule.
"You know there used to be a rule where you could challenge a defensive pass interference call," Hill said. "That used to be a rule, I believe like two years ago, and they took that rule away. I don't know why they took it away."
The NFL dumped the rule prior to the 2020 season, a move that Hill was not a fan of.
"I think they should definitely bring that back," Hill said. "Bring that back, and once it's a pass interference, just add those receiving yards to my yardage."
Although Hill didn't fully explain why he wants to see the rule return, it probably has to do with the fact that most defenders will do whatever's possible to slow him down. Hill is one of the fastest players in the NFL and he probably feels like he's not getting all the calls he should be getting while running his routes.
Unfortunately for Hill, there's essentially a 0.0% chance that the league will be bringing the rule back. The main reason the rule was even put into place was because it was the NFL's way of reacting to the controversial finish at the end of the 2018 NFC title game.
That's the game where Saints QB Drew Brees attempted to throw a pass to Tommylee Lewis with just minutes left, but Lewis didn't make the catch because he got knocked over by Rams corner Nickell Robey-Coleman, who hit Lewis well before the ball arrived.
— Sports Fan (@sportsnow12345) January 20, 2022
After the no-call, the game went into overtime and the Rams ended up winning 26-23. The missed call was so egregious that the NFL responded by approving a new PI rule.
During its one season of existence, the rule was so bad that Troy Vincent, the NFL's vice president of football operations, admitted that the league "failed miserably" by even implementing it.
"You can't rush and just shove something in there without knowing all the consequences," Vincent said of the rule in May 2020. "And we found that out last year, live and in action, publicly. We didn't do [our due diligence] last year, and we failed, and we failed miserably."
Of the 101 pass interference calls and no-calls that were reviewed, only 24 were overturned, according to ESPN.com.
Basically, unless Hill gets voted NFL commissioner at some point in the near future, this is one rule that almost certainly won't be coming back.
