Athletes who have had rules changed or made based on them...

Not an athlete but a coach.

Late in a game when two men short, Roger Nielsen would send an extra guy over the boards so now the power play was effectively 5-4 until the killing team touched the puck. Since a team couldn't go down more than two guys, he kept doing that until the end of the game.

Next year, the rule was changed so it's a penalty shot.

 

What qb got clocked to change to the 'in the grasp' rule?

Have there been any changes to the spike rule due to plays made by qbs?

 

There is also the Carson Palmer rule, which made it illegal to hit quarterbacks at the knee or below unless they are being blocked into him. That led to some ridiculous personal foul calls on pass rushers for stupid crap like a hand landing on a quarterback's foot (Yes, I did see that called at least twice in '06).

 

As others have mentioned, basketball big men dominate this category.

The dunk was made illegal for 9 years in college basketball largely as a result of Lew Alcindor making it look too damn easy. The widening of the foul lane was was called the "Mikan Rule" when it was first implemented, and Wilt also prompted a few adjustments to the rule book.

 

Would Mel Blount count? I know his play was a big reason the NFL took away pass defenders' freedom to hit receivers all over the field in the late '70s.

 

The horse collar rule after Roy Williams.

 

The death of Duk Koo Kim sparked a movement among the alphabet boxing groups to make title fights 12 rounds instead of 15.

 

The hell it did. That was a brilliantly played game and a joy to watch. Plus, at that point several conferences had been experimenting with the clock for years and it was already fairly widely accepted that a clock was going in the next season.

If there was any one game that deserves the most credit for bringing in the shot clock, it was the 1982 ACC Championship game, North Carolina and Virginia were the nation's top two rated teams and it was the most anticipated game of the year, and Dean Smith ruined it by holding the ball virtually the entire 2d half (including one possession that lasted over 12 minutes). After that, national disgust over the delay crap hit overdrive and several conferences, including the ACC, first experimented with the clock in the very next season. After that, it was just a matter of time before everyone had it.

 

The Chase came after Matt Kenseth won a title with like one victory.

 

Bill Russell - goaltending (college).

 

And Carl Edwards and 2-3 others could win it this year with no victories.

 

Hey, I didn't say it worked.