Namesake doesn’t know about "Marion Barber Rule"

By CHAREAN WILLIAMS
cjwilliams@star-telegram.com

IRVING -- It is being called the "Marion Barber Rule", but its namesake doesn’t know anything about it.

“What’s that? What happened?” Barber asked.

Offensive players using stiff arms to the face of defenders always was against the rules, but officials rarely called it. After watching Barber turn the stiff arm into “a weapon” as one member of the NFL’s competition committee put it, the rule has become a point of emphasis for this season.

Officials have been told to throw a flag when an offensive player grabs onto or twists the facemask of a defender -- a 15-yard facemask penalty -- or when he violently shoves a defender aside with a stiff arm to the face -- a 15-yard hands-to-the-face penalty.

“Then, I’m going to use the elbow,” Barber said, jokingly, before adding, “I didn’t even know. I’m going to have to read up on it. So you can’t stiff arm at all? What about the throat?”

Barber will get his chance to ask officials about the rule during training camp. The Cowboys report to training camp July 24 in Oxnard, Calif. Every NFL team meets with officials before the season to go over any new rules and points of emphasis.