The importance of the coin toss (Getty Images)
With Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts driving in the fourth quarter; what I’d pay to get inside the mind of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell during that moment. Could the Super Bowl be headed to an overtime, where the all-important coin toss could decide the champion? With an NFL PR disaster looming on the horizon, thank you, Tracy Porter. Without Porter’s game-sealing interception of Manning, the game may have been decided by not the players on the field but by a silver coin rotating in the air. Let’s face it; the NFL’s sudden death overtime policy is terrible. Football fans have been calling for reform for many years now. Any time a kicker can sit on the sideline all game, jog out on the field in overtime, and kick a 48 yard field goal for the victory: how is that not considered a disappointment? Four quarters of bone-crushing football all for a slapshot field goal for the win? The NFL can do better, and they will.
Tracy Porter's Super Bowl interception (Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
How would the world respond to a Super Bowl overtime decided by a kicker? It wouldn’t be good from a PR standpoint. Anytime there’s potential for an organization to receive scrutiny that harms its reputation, changes need to be made in advance. The NFL would have went into a defensive position if the Super Bowl ended with overtime controversy. The NFL caught a huge break from Mr. Porter in the 2010 Super Bowl. Without his interception, the inevitable coin toss may have factored into the outcome of the game. Following the conclusion of the 2010 Super Bowl, the NFL negotiated a policy change with league owners in its overtime system. According to an article on bleacherreport.com, “The rule change states that if the first team to possess the ball in overtime scores a touchdown, the game is over. However, if a team only kicks a field goal, the defending team will get the ball also.” This new rule also only applies to playoff games.
Although the sudden death format isn’t completely extinct, the NFL has took a step in the right direction and avoided potential criticism in the future.
