I don’t think its that common on 4th down. A possession rule would weed out enough issues, I think. It’s not a problem in every game. Anything to quell the urge just a bit would likely be sufficient. The possession rule would leave out any room for interpretation too, where a ref could potentially delay placing the ball. The possession rule would be simple and straight forward. You stop the clock, you’re out.
Among the several reasons this rule is terrible is imagine if a player, and I’m using an example that is exaggerated, gets hit and is on the field and gets taken away in an ambulance gets taken to the hospital and ends up paralyzed and his TO or 5 yards leads to his team’s loss, can you imagine? it should be a judgement call, such as when a player gets up and abruptly falls or in situations when it’s just plain obvious. Sure it would lead to book cooking but this is a brutal rule in a game where at the end of games players play their hearts out and do actually get hurt on occasion. I don’t know, I get it but also what if a player is the opposite, he’s proper injured and he’s trying his best to the point of further injuring himself to get off the field. It seems that if it can be harmful on both situations, maybe think it through more. Understand the effort but I think they came out with the wrong answer. Hope it just works. edit: just thought of this. What happens if it’s 4th and 1 on the 10 with 10 seconds on the clock and the offense has zero time outs and they just completed a pass where the just completed a pass that brings them to the 10 yard line but they have no time outs left so they fake an injury and it costs them -5 yards when otherwise the clock would run out (or either team actually) and because of the run off it’s negated -5 yards and is still an easy FG and down by 2? What is the plan then either way? Say it’s a legit injury on either side still stopping clock and going back 5 yards when otherwise they wouldn’t have been able to?? Have to believe that was accounted for. Gonna go read the letter of the rule.
Not sure I get your question. No need to fake an injury on defense if the defense stops the offense on fourth down and the possession is over. If defense doesn't stop the offense on fourth down, then the offense retains possession and the player would have to be sidelined for at least four downs; assuming the offense doesn't score or turn the ball over. I don't think I've ever seen an offensive player faking an injury to stop the clock; especially since there is a 10 second runoff rule. But, I could be wrong.
Every single new rule will be to increase either commercial time or opportunities to score points. They're not interested in football fans, they're interested in dopamine fans. Many points make Ugg excite. TV man tell Ugg drink Bud Light, TV man say Quick Same Game Parlay on Draft Kings make Ugg rich. Defense man make big tackle stop points, no points make Ugg sad, zebra man make yellow flag.
In that scenario, I would think that would be before the ball is spotted. Major injuries occur during the previous play. If a player doesnt get up, I would assume thats prior to the ball spot.