UFL nixes rule that saw overtime game decided via penalty

If a tie is like kissing your sister, an overtime game decided on a penalty is like kissing your... brother?

In the UFL, overtime is decided with alternating 2-point conversions from the 5-yard line. However, in an effort to prevent a beaten defensive back from holding his receiver rather than surrender a game-winning catch, the league instituted a rule that live-ball penalties committed by the defense on multiple overtime plays would award two points to the offense, thus ending the game. That clause had never been triggered until Saturday night's game between the Orlando Storm and Louisville Kings. 

“We wanted to make sure we had a winner and we got the game over with. We didn’t want the team to continue to foul to prevent scores, so the second live ball foul by the same team during overtime results in the score being good,” Dean Blandino, the UFL's officiating czar and also a Fox analyst, said on TV afterward.

"It's unfortunate for us, because we came out on the (wrong) end of that, but those are the rules that we have," Louisville head coach Chris Redman said. "... That's something out of our control; all we can do is go out there and play hard, play aggressive. And, unfortunately, we had two aggressive penalties in the end."

On Thursday, the UFL announced that games will no longer end via penalty.

Moving forward, a live-ball defensive penalty committed in overtime will move the ball from the 5-yard line to the 1. Any penalty beyond that will be half-the-distance: the second foul will move the ball to the half-yard line, the third to the quarter-yard line, etc. Blandino explains.

One can see where the UFL's rules committee was coming from in trying to limit gamesmanship and, well, the games themselves by installing the previous rule, a game-winning penalty would never be a satisfying ending, and so credit is due to the league's leadership for listening and pivoting. And while we're on the subject, can I interest anyone in bringing back ties?