FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Four NFL officials are working with the New England Patriots over a three-day three stretch this week, and as is standard operating procedure, they made themselves available to reporters to answer questions specific to rule changes and points of emphasis.
In doing so, they showed reporters the same video that Patriots players watched Thursday night.
One area that stood out to me was how the league is using the on-field fight at the end of Super Bowl XLIX between the Patriots and Seattle Seahawks to highlight the point of emphasis that fighting -- which increased across the NFL in 2014 -- will not be tolerated.
From the video:
"The increase in fighting is unacceptable and casts a negative light on the game and everyone associated with the NFL. The league policy on fighting is clear and states the following: Don't fight, and if a fight breaks out involving other players, stay away. Any active participant in a fight will be penalized. Flagrant conduct will result in ejection and any player that does not immediately leave the fight area will be subject to a fine. Peacemaking won't be accepted as an excuse for entering the area. The best thing to do is get yourself and your teammates out of the fight area."
After the video, I asked back judge Tony Steratore (whose brother Gene is an NFL referee) how officials have been instructed to handle such situations, because there could have been 20-plus penalty flags thrown at the end of the Super Bowl.
"We want to be a presence. You want to prevent the fight in the first place, and by being a presence that's the best [way to do so]," he said. "A striped shirt still has a calming influence on two guys. These are big guys. This is an emotional game; it always will be that way. So what we try to do is establish a presence as soon as you can to put the fire out."
