A new tuck rule for the NFL?

The NFL remains the country’s No. 1 sports league, but its days as the mane event appear numbered.

At their annual meetings next week, teams will consider a proposal to ban players from allowing their hair to obscure the number or name on their jersey.

The rule, proposed by the Kansas City Chiefs, would not dictate hair length but would require players to tuck their flowing locks into their helmet. Among the players who would be affected are Pittsburgh’s Troy Polamalu, Green Bay’s Al Harris and Mike McKenzie of New Orleans.

It is not illegal for players to grab an opponent’s hair during the process of, say, making a tackle. Two years ago, after making an interception against the Chiefs, Polamalu was grabbed by the hair by running back Larry Johnson and thrown to the turf.

Among other rules changes that will be considered by the competition committee are one to expand instant replay to include review of field goals, and another to eliminate the five-yard facemask penalty.

“We believe we can still promote and cover all the safety issues there are with respect to the facemask penalty with the 15-yard penalty,” said Rich McKay, co-chairman of the committee. “We then said you must twist it, turn it or pull it for a 15-yard penalty as opposed to the five-yard standard, which only required a grasp.”

In addition, the league will look at ways to create incentives for teams to play hard throughout the season, even if they have already locked up a postseason spot. That includes ways to reconfigure the playoff-seeding system.

sam.farmer@latimes.com