The sign said “Long haired freaky people need not apply”,
So I tucked my hair up under my hat and I went in to ask him why,
He said you look like a fine upstanding young man, I think you’ll do.
So I took off my hat I said imagine that, huh, me working for you.- “Signs” by the Five Man Electrical Band

The late 60’s and early 70’s saw the advent of long hair on men. The Beatles, hippies from Boulder and others all grew out their locks. Many were scorned all because others couldn’t tell their gender.

Most times you can’t hear em talk, other times you can.
Oh the same old cliche, as that woman or a man,
You always seem out numbered, you dont dare make a stand.

- “Turn the Page” by Bob Seger

Now nearly 40 years later, the NFL will ponder some rules changes at the owners meetings this week. Among them is the heavily discussed hair rule, proposed by the Kansas City Chiefs, to make a player tuck his hair into his helmet so that it doesn’t obscure his name plate on the back of the jersey.

If it passes count on hearing “Signs” at a NFL stadium near you.

Among the other considerations for changes:

• Changing the playoff seeding so that a wild-card team could get home-field advantage in a first round game if it has a better regular-season record than a division winner.
• The college option on the coin toss, allowing teams to defer taking the ball until the second half.
• Ending the forceout rule on receptions and interceptions. Currently, the play stands if a player is forced out of bounds making a catch. If changed, a player must get both feet down in bounds under all circumstances.
• Eliminating the 5-yard “incidental facemask” penalty. Grabbing the facemask and turning it would lead to an automatic 15-yard penalty.
• Instant replay on field-goal attempts. This was proposed in part because of a game last season in which Cleveland’s game-tying field goal against Baltimore appeared to hit the crossbar and bounced back on the field. It was eventually ruled to have hit the support stanchion behind the crossbar and was good. The Browns went on to win in overtime.

Owners will also discuss opting out of the current labor agreement. If they were to opt out 2010 would be a season without a salary cap and that could spell disaster for some teams. One league source has hinted that the owners will attempt to get the union to re-open negotiations on the agreement.