AS A RULE, NFL LACKING CLARITY.

Byline: TOM HOFFARTH

There's gotta be a rule in the NFL about stopping more rules from going into the official rule book. Because, frankly, this is all gettin' really unruly.

It's no wonder after every time a yellow hankie is thrown in the air, the referee comes out of a huddle with the other striped shirts sporting that befuddled look of a guy at a gas station who pulls up the pump only to realize the opening for his tank is on the other side.

The 200-plus-page convoluted, misconstrued collection of regulations, available in most book stores for about 10 bucks, makes Dostoevsky's ``Crime and Punishment'' seem elementary.

Why wouldn't referee Ron Blum (who's employed as a full-time golf pro in another life) need to check with supervisors during last week's Pittsburgh-Tennessee AFC playoff game to see if a play was reviewable, even if it did embarrass league officials?

``There is just mass confusion right now,'' a longtime game official who spoke on the condition of anonymity told The New York Times this week.

``The rules look like those books lawyers have to look things up in all the time,'' admits Phil Simms, the former NFL signal-caller whose job is now to call out the refs from the CBS broadcast booth.

So there's your answer - simple simplification.

Why can't the NFL be the exception to the rule in pro sports when it comes to setting new boundaries for the kids on the field?

Rewrite the rhetoric. Trim the turgidity. Grind down the gobbledygook. Before a U.S. tax code specialist has to be called in to notarize the coin flip.

``There's no way to scale back,'' Simms insists. ``The rules are put there for a reason.

``If you cut back on one thing, then what do you allow? You see, we just have more arguments.''

Here, we'll iron it out for you, Phil. It's like ``ElimiDATE,'' without the threat of a contagious disease.

There are 71 infractions listed in the rules' index for stuff that warrants a penalty, anything from ``actions interfering with a snap'' (5 yards) to ``use of helmet as a weapon'' (15 yards and automatic DQ). That's fine. Keep 'em all if you want. Just don't waste space with round-about run-on sentences trying to explain what each one means.

Take pass interference. Please.

Rule 8, Section 3, Article 5: ``It is pass interference by either team when any player movement beyond the offensive line significantly hinders the progress of an eligible player or such player's opportunity to catch the ball during a forward pass.''

Says it all, right? Oh, no. There are six more subsections, explanations and notations about who's looking at the ball, if the ball is catchable, if the receiver is making a ``genuine'' attempt to catch it, inadvertent tripping, if a personal foul is added to the penalty, if ...

Stop. Offensive player A heaves ball to teammate B. Defender X screws up. Throw a flag. Move on.

How about a fumble?

Rule 3, Section 1, Article 4: ``A fumble is any act, other than a pass or legal kick, which results in loss of player possession. The term Fumble always implies possession (see Rule 8, Section 4, Article 2, Exc. 1).''

What was that last bit? By the way, a muff is important to note. That's the ``touching of the ball by a player in an unsuccessful attempt to obtain possession of a loose ball. ... The distinction between a fumble and a muff should be kept in mind in considering rules about fumbles.''

Sorry, we got distracted. What's a muff again?

Then there's the classic description of the game ball.

Rule 2, Section 1: The ``prolate spheroid'' must have a ``rubber bladder enclosed in a pebble grained, leather case (natural tan color) without corrugations of any kind.''

If the home doesn't have the right balls, and the refs can't get 'em from the visiting team, he must ``use the best available ball.''

Even if it's been muffed?

Finally, what plays are reviewable under replay? No clue. The rule book we have doesn't even get into it. NFL.com is no help either.

Just as well. Under this verbiage cutting, there's no instant replay. Nothing's reviewable. Not even the Eagles cheerleaders.

Deal with it. If it was good enough for Bronco Nagurski, Y.A. Tittle and Johnny Unitas, should be good enough for us.

Or, as former Dallas quarterback and current Fox broadcaster Troy Aikman says: ``Let's just let the players play, let the coaches coach and the officials officiate and let's get on with it. It wasn't all that bad before.''

Sounds simple enough.

CAPTION(S):

photo

Photo:

(color) NFL officials always are huddling because they don't want anyone else to hear that they don't know the rules, either.

Amy Sancetta/Associated Press