Vikings not leading charge for new overtime rules

The Minnesota Vikings’ loss to the New Orleans Saints in the NFC Championship may have given proponents of a new system for overtime some ammunition moving forward, but don’t count the Vikings in that group.

Not now anyway.

Minnesota didn’t touch the ball in overtime as the Saints won the coin toss and quickly moved into range for Garrett Hartley to send New Orleans to Super Bowl XLIV with a 40-yard field goal. It was about as simple as, well, winning the coin toss for the Saints.

Those urging for a change in the overtime rules when owners vote on measures Wednesday at the owners meeting in Orlando, Fla., will hold it up as a primary example of why it is time for evolution.

But Judd Zulgad of the Minneapolis Star Tribune cites a source that says Minnesota owner Zygi Wilf is not in favor of a change to the proposal, one that would have led the Saints to kick off to his team after Hartley’s field goal. The proposed change would force a team that kicks a field goal on the opening possession of overtime to kick off back to their opponent. If the opponent scores a touchdown, the game is over. If the opponent kicks a field goal on its possession, then the game goes into a sudden death format. If a team that receives the kickoff to start overtime scores a touchdown on the opening possession, the game is over.

"I'm straddling the fence right now," Vikings coach Brad Childress told Zulgad. "I don't know if I'm in the majority or minority. I can live with it either way. There is part of me that I don't want to screw around with what's been. There's part of me that says let's give it a swing."

For a change to be voted in, 24 votes will be needed. The measure advanced to this point after a 6-2 vote by the competition committee. One of the concerns about this measure is that it could lead to longer games and potentially a greater risk for injuries.

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