There are only very few new rules for 2010 (2011 in Europe), since there werent supposed to be any. So these are extraordinary changes that you will not find in your current rulebook.
1-4-4-a
All players still must have knee pads, but they no longer have to cover the knees. We no longer have to be the “fashion police” here.
1-4-4-h
Socks still have to be of the same color and design, but they no longer have to be the same length. Another “fashion police” assignment we no longer have.
1-4-5-i
Not a big concern in Europe, but the eye shade now must be completely black.
1-4-9-d
The home team is now required to provide the referee with a microphone for penalty announcements. Im a big fan of this new rule, but I’m sure many federations around Europe will make exemptions for this one.
3-3-5
In an effort to focus more on concussions, a player must now leave the field if an injury timeout has been called for him. A team timeout cannot buy him back in. The way I understand it, he has to sit out one play, to give the medical personnel a chance to look at him. Only halftime can save him from missing at least one play.
6-1-9
This is a safety rule but it is still kind of tricky in the sense of how it is supposed to be officiated.
An illegal wedge is 3 or more B players who line up side by side (no more than 2 yards between each other) during a normal free kick.
It does not apply during onside kicks.
The officials on the B goalline are supposed to look for this wedge while the ball is in the air and as soon as the return starts they are not supposed to look for it anymore.
However, it is called as a spot foul during the return with a 15 yard penalty for Unsportsmanlike Conduct. That means that it is yet another exception to the basic spot system, because the foul happens during the kick, but it is penalised as if it happened during the return.
If the kick results in a touchback, this foul is not to be called.
If the kick rolls out of bounds between the goallines, Illegal Wedge can still be called.
In the 2009 NFL season this foul was called 8 times, so it is not something we will see very many times.
9-1-3
There is no change to this rule, but it has been split up into more separate articles to emphasize that using the crown of the helmet and contacting a defenseless player in the head and neck area are serious fouls. Also, illegal contact is not restricted to the crown of the helmet. It is a foul if the forearm, elbos or shoulder are used to make contact.
Pregame buffer zone
This is a suggestion to the conferences to set up a policy that stipulates that if both teams warm up on the field at the same time, they are not allowed to use the middle 10 yards of the field, between the 45 yardlines.
In essense, they can use one end of the field, from the endline to the closest 45 yardline.
This is supposed to prevent fights before the game.