1. We love football.

2. We respect rule-makers the officials who uphold those standards.

3. But the break-the-plane rule is a mess and needs to be reconsidered. Cagey players and coaches too often exploit it as a shortcut to easy touchdowns that are unsatisfying to watch and do not conform to the ethos of the game, where strength, savvy and determination are supposed to be rewarded.

4. Players recognize they can just wave the ball in the end zone’s airspace and never need to trouble themselves with actually touching the end zone. The results that fans see far too frequently (goal-line bunny hops, pylon wave-overs) are farcical.

5. Pylons are an utter mystery. The NFL Rulebook explains pylons “should not touch the surface of the actual playing field itself” (Field Markings, Point 5) but also states “The Goal Line and the pylons are in the End Zone” (Rule 3, Definitions, Section 12, Article 3). How is that possible? We discuss this contradiction and other pylon puzzlers at length in our pylons article.

6. Our solution: Require ball carriers to make physical contact with the end zone, however minimal. One of our pet bromides: Put the touch back in touchdown.

7. We have nothing to sell at this site other than an idea we believe will benefit the game. This is a fan’s crusade presented within a journalistic framework, and we hereby respectfully appeal to the game’s rule-makers to consider adopting the rule revision we propose.