According to Jason La Canfora of the NFL Network, the NFL sent a memo to all 32 NFL teams detailing changes to where the umpire is positioned on the playing field.

From La Canfora's Twitter feed:

"1.Umpires will be lined up no more than 12 yards from the line of scrimmage. At the beginning of the preseason, they were approximately 15 yards back.

2. Umpire must be beyond the deepest offensive player before ball snapped. Before, ball not snapped until umpire had assumed his position.

3. A line of scrimmage official will signal when legal snap permitted. The original procedure required QB to check with the referee. [Ed. note - Who is positioned behind the quarterback.]

4. Umpires will assume a position on the defensive side of the ball after 2-minute warning of the 2nd quarter and inside 5 minutes remaining in 4th quarter.

5. Umpires will assume a position on the defensive side of the ball when the offense is at or inside the defensive five-yard line.

6. The referee has authority to warn offense for an illegal snap for future action. But a clear violation can be called without warning."

The NFL's decision to change the umpire positioning this off-season drew criticism from everyone from high-profile quarterbacks such as Peyton Manning, whose Indianapolis Colts run a lot of no-huddle offenses throughout the game to take advantage of personnel mismatches against the opposing defense, to Colts president Bill Polian, a member of the NFL's Competition Committee who voted for the change, was critical of the new rules after he saw how it would affect game-play.

ProFootballTalk.com reported that officials did not want to move the positioning of the umpires, preferring instead to wear helmets and/or padding to protect against injury, but the league pushed for the change to protect themselves against injury liability.

While the tweaks are an improvement, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell had the authority to axe the new rules entirely and really should have done so.