NFL: Goodell wants to give PAT the boot

Roger Goodell doesn't want to stand pat with the PAT. He's suggesting potential changes in the extra point that, well, might have some legs.

The NFL commissioner says the extra point kick after touchdowns, which had a success rate of nearly 100 percent, is too automatic. Sure is.

And with few teams attempting 2-point conversion plays until desperation hits late in games, the old 1-pointer from 20 yards is the way coaches go. All that does is draw yawns.

So Goodell wonders if the league can add excitement by making some major adjustments to the extra point, suggesting perhaps making a touchdown worth seven points instead of six, with teams having the option to run a play for another point.

But failing on that play would cost them a point.

The competition committee meets with the players' union at the NFL combine in February, where any new proposals or ideas are discussed. Owners vote on proposed rule changes in March. A three-quarters majority is needed to pass any changes.

Pro Bowl draft begins

NFL great Jerry Rice picked New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees and St. Louis defensive end Robert Quinn as the anchors of his Pro Bowl team on Tuesday. Rice made the selections in Hawaii after winning a coin toss against Hall of Fame cornerback Deion Sanders. Rice called tails.

The decision left Sanders with top picks in Kansas City running back Jamaal Charles and Houston defensive end J.J. Watt for Sunday's game.

The toss and selections start a new process for the NFL in selecting this year's Pro Bowl teams. Rice and Sanders are serving as captains and general managers in charge of divvying up the NFL stars. Rice and Sanders picked 11 players each on Tuesday. The rest of the players will be picked Wednesday.

Collision investigated

San Francisco coach Jim Harbaugh said there's been communication between the NFL and the team after Seattle's Jeremy Lane ran into an unidentified person on the 49ers sideline during the NFC championship game.

Seattle coach Pete Carroll said Monday that the Seahawks had reached out to the league to find out more about what happened. Carroll said he was disappointed there was not a penalty called on the play.

Lane was running downfield on punt coverage on the first play of the second quarter of Seattle's 23-17 win Sunday. Lane was blocked into the 49ers bench then ran into a person on the sideline not in uniform.

Around the league

Lions • Degroit hired Joe Lombardi as offensive coordinator. Lombardi, grandson of Hall of Fame coach Vince Lombardi, has been an offensive assistant for New Orleans since 2007. He was hired as quarterbacks coach in 2009, the season the Saints won the Super Bowl over Indianapolis, which was then coached by current Lions coach Jim Caldwell.

Buccaneers • Tampa Bay hired Arizona Cardinals front-office executive Jason Licht as general manager to help coach Lovie Smith transform a team that hasn't won a playoff game in more than a decade into a championship contender. Licht succeeds Mark Dominik, who was fired after the Buccaneers went 4-12. —

Super Bowl XLVIII

O Seattle vs. Denver

Sunday, 4:30 p.m.

TV • Ch. 13