There may be those of you out there who recall an old television program called “Queen for a Day.” It began as a radio program in 1945, which was then turned into a television program that ran from 1956 to 1964. The show grew in popularity that enabled the networks to sell, for what at that time was a premium advertising rate of $4,000 per minute.

Each program opened with the host, Jack Bailey, asking the audience, “Would you like to be Queen for a day?” The selected contestants would be introduced and interviewed one at a time, with the studio audience selecting the winner using an applause meter. The winning contestant would receive the help they requested, along with a variety of extra prizes. It was great TV back in those days, perhaps a forerunner of the reality shows of today.

I would have never qualified as a contestant for that show. Still, you can be sure that I would stand on my head, hoot and holler, and do anything I could to gain selection if there were a show titled “Football Czar for a Day” or even for ten minutes because that is all it would take for me to implement a rule that for years I’ve believed would make football a better game.

The rule change I am seeking strikes at the very heart of the game and identifies the game’s chief objective in winning games, scoring touchdowns!

The act of touching a football to the ground behind an opponent’s goal is the fundamental of the game. It seems like such a simple objective. Get the ball into the end zone and score six points for your team; whoa, not so fast there; throw the challenge flag, instant replay, break the plane, see if even the smallest part of the football might be touching, or is above, some of those white chalk specs that signify the goal line.

That “plane” business is something I’d like to see just fly away. By definition, “the plane” is a metaphorical wall separating the end zone from the rest of the field and must be broken by the ball in order for a team to be awarded a touchdown. If even the tip of the ball breaks this “plane,” a touchdown is awarded.

As “football czar,” I would decree that a touchdown could only be scored by a ball carrier or pass receiver, who physically possesses the football into the end zone of the opponent with two feet, two knees, his butt, etc. on the ground. It is just plain silly that a player can be on the two-yard line, stretch the ball out above an imaginary line or touch a pylon, and be credited with a touchdown. The end zone is big enough, 30-foot-deep, 160-foot-wide; get the ball into that space, and then I’d award a touchdown!

But what constitutes a touchdown? How many feet must be in the end zone to give a team six points? Touchdown rules can be confusing. In some cases, getting two feet down in the end zone in the NFL is not enough for a touchdown, while on other occasions, players can score without touching the end zone. In college, only one foot down in the end zone is sufficient for a TD.

Players catching the ball in the end zone must get two feet down in bounds in order to score a TD. In college, one foot is required. If a player has his feet in the end zone but receives the ball short of the goal line, it is not a touchdown by NFL rules. A catch in the end zone requires two feet down and control of the ball on or past the goal line to be a touchdown.

Previously, an NFL receiver leaping to make a catch in the end zone did not have to get any feet down. If he was forced out of bounds by defenders and the referees determined that he would have come down in bounds, his team would be awarded a touchdown anyway. The NFL changed this rule. Now on those kinds of plays, a receiver must get two feet down regardless.

It’s all a bit confusing and somewhat reminiscent of President Clinton’s famous answer during the 1998 grand jury investigation of the Monica Lewinsky shenanigans. It was then he uttered the infamous words, “It depends on what the meaning of the word is, is.”

The advent of instant replay has significantly changed the way the game is played, coached, watched, and refereed. It certainly is preferable to be able to correct egregious mistakes, but in my mind, it is a disservice to the manly game of football when breaking a “plane” is afforded the same results of getting the ball into the end zone.

For those that disagree, you have no worries. There isn’t a TV show called “Czar for a Day.” But I’d be knocking on the door if there was.

For the point of full disclosure, my opinion was not forged as a result of the final two-point conversion play resulting in a 36-35 Indiana victory over Penn State two weeks ago. I am neither a Penn State fan nor a Nittany Lion hater, but as gutsy as Hoosier quarterback Michael Penix Jr. was, he still hasn’t gotten the ball into the end zone. Autographed pylons are probably a prized souvenir these days in Bloomington.