NFL’s playoff overtime rules not nearly as complicated as Hochuli made them sound

By now, every football fan must be aware of the long-winded explanation of the NFL’s new overtime rules given by referee Ed Hochuli in the Giants-49ers NFC conference championship game this past weekend. If you haven’t heard or seen it yet, here it is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHC8U6GCXgU What? I’m not picking on Hochuli. For one, he’d squash me like a bug. But I’m pretty sure other officials would have just as much difficulty explaining a rule that the NFL tried to force into the rulebook before perfecting it. But, Ed… seriously. It took about a minute to explain something that could be summed up in two sentences, spanning maybe ten seconds: “If the opening possession of overtime results in a field goal, the other team will get the opportunity to respond. All other means of scoring will be treated as sudden death and the game will end.” Simple. Succinct. Informative. If an offensive touchdown is scored, the game is over. If a ...