Dumbest Rule Ever

The new "no spiking" rule, which one imagines was implemented to give officials a break from chasing down the ball after every single play, is pretty typical of the modern NFL mindset.  Ignore the intent, legislate the action.  It's what you get when you have an institution run mostly by lawyers. 

As expected, there are a number of problems with the rule, summarized nicely here.  On Sunday, we saw another example of how dumb the enforcement of this rule can be, when the Ravens' Derrick Mason received a five-yard delay of game penalty for spiking the football after a play on which he was injured:

Watch the video and see what you think.  Was his intent to delay the game?  Clearly not.  Was he taunting anyone?  Again, not at all.  He was rolling on the field in pain and then limped off the field grabbing his knee.

Part (most?) of being a referee is showing good judgment.  Not on this play.