There are of course people who think the current overtime system ought to stay in place, and get angry by those “whining” for a new system. Back in 2003, Rich McKay was quoted as saying, “Ours is real football…we don’t change the rules for overtime.” There are two main arguments for keeping the current system, both of which I feel are flawed arguments.
The first argument is that the NCAA rules are no better, or don’t reflect “real” football, so the NFL overtime system should stay how it is. To recap the NCAA system, each team forgoes kickoffs and gets the ball on the opponents 25-yard line, making them already be in field goal range. Athan Atsales of the LA Times blog, arguing against changing the overtime rules, explains that in this system “the strategy of field position, one of the major cogs of the competition, is eliminated. The effectiveness of a defense that doesn’t allow long drives is eliminated. The fear of an offense making a mistake on its end of the field is eliminated.” I agree with this sentiment, in that the NCAA rules are not by any means perfect and may not be the right fit for the NFL. However, changing the NFL rules doesn’t mean you have to change them to the NCAA rules. There are a lot of good ideas for different systems, such as the ones I highlighted in my last post.
Second, many argue that if an opponent takes possession of the ball, a worthy team will be able to stop them and get the ball back to win the game. In my opinion, this logic is flawed because in all other sports, which are also games of offense and defense, both sides get an opportunity to play offense and defense. A team is as good as its offense AND its defense, and ought to be judged in its entirety. 
Not being able to come to a consensus isn’t a good reason to keep the status quo either, especially when so many acknowledge faults in the current system. Saying “we don’t change our overtime rules” as if it is an unwavering truth is not right; sometimes, systems have to adapt to changing circumstances. The overtime rules have already changed once for the Jerome Bettis rule, and I have hope they will change again in light of the growing discontent with the current system.
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