SEC Nation crew praises new fake injury penalties: ‘We don’t want to turn football into soccer’

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey issued a strongly worded memo this week promising fines and suspensions for teams found to have "feigned" injuries in order to receive an extra timeout.

According to the memo, head coaches will be fined $50,000 for a first offense, $100,000 for a second offense and a one-game suspension and public reprimand for any subsequent offense. National coordinator of officials Steve Shaw will make the ultimate determination as to whether or not an injury was "fake" after video review.

The SEC Nation crew weighed in on the new penalty structure during Saturday's show live from Jacksonville, Fla. The praise was nearly universal.

"I really like that they're trying to implement something," former Florida quarterback Tim Tebow said. "Will these be the exact rules that are work? I'm not sure. But should something be implemented? Absolutely.

"Listen, I'm a soccer fan. I love that we're bringing teams here to Jacksonville. I think soccer is a great sport, but we don't want to turn football into soccer. There is a difference and I don't think that we should just ... 'my gosh, I'm gonna go fall down.' No, no, no. That works in another sport. ... Let's keep football as football and let's not do that."

Fellow SEC Network panelist Jordan Rodgers, the former Vanderbilt quarterback, joked that he didn't want to see college football medical personnel run out with the "magic spray" to help "heal" injuries as is often seen in soccer. Rodgers referred to the new policy as a "scare tactic" to get "egregious" flouting of timeout rules — such as coaches appearing to order healthy players to fall down on the field (as we saw with Alabama vs. Tennessee and Ole Miss vs. Kentucky earlier this season) — out of the game, but noted that "cramps do happen."

SEC Nation panelist Paul Finebaum said the new policy is yet another flex by Greg Sankey, but questioned how enforceable it might be. He also mentioned a certain alleged serial offender of the fake injury tactics by name.

"What Greg Sankey is essentially saying is 'you're on notice now, we're not going to look the other way,''" Finebaum said. "I don't know how in the world they're ever going to get to the point where they would suspend someone. I'd love to be in that room, where say, Lane Kiffin, is in that room going 'mano a mano.'

... But it's the right decision. That's why Greg Sankey has become the major domo of college football. He's taking a stand while others look the other way. It may not be ultimately enforceable, but it's the right message at the right time."

Incidentally, host Laura Rutledge interjected "why'd you mention him?" when Finebaum name-dropped Kiffin. Finebaum answered, "I don't know."

The lone dissenter on the subject was former Alabama safety Roman Harper, who is also the only panelist who played defense in college. He argued that faking injuries was an almost necessary tactic against hurry-up, no-huddle offenses.

"I understand the reason for the memo, but this has been part of football for the longest time," Harper said. "... If you do it correctly, you won't get caught; that's the thing about it. And if you ain't cheating, sometimes you ain't trying. Defensively, you have no advantages and sometimes you've got to slow it down. Just be smarter."