[BamaZeus]

We should just go to the XFL "scramble" instead of a kickoff after each score. That way, only one player could possibly get hurt, and those poor linemen don't have to keep running up and down the field.

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[Barry the Baptist]

Seriously what a stupid rule change... I understand the player safety angle but then eliminate or punish teams that chop block. There are other rule changes that can eliminate injury.

How about eliminate the kickoff alltogether and just have teams line up for a punt? I think giving the team the ball back after they score to be a joke.

[BacktoQueens]

Originally Posted by Br4dw4y5ux

Simpler rule change:

Have the kicker kick from his own 30. The ball must go at least 30 yards for the kicking team to recover.

Have the kicking team and the receiving team both line up on their sides of the 50 with 8 players lined up on each side inside the hash marks. 2 gunners and 2 blockers line up outside the hashmarks. Everybody must be set at the snap, no motion allowed until the whistle blows when the ball is kicked.

Have one returner deep for the receiving team.

The kickoff becomes a game of directional kicking with a full return possible. The offensive recovery option is to kick it just over the 50, have it get over the 40 on the bounce and hope your team gets to it before the receiving team.

90% of the hard collisions are removed from the kickoff because the blocks happen before the players have gotten up any speed. That's why punt returns have a much lower injury factor. You don't have two full sides getting up a head of steam before they meet.

Note there are no blockers back with the returner. He's going to have to make what he can out of what is effectively a punt. Punts still get returned for TD's now and then.

Not a bad idea. Might need a few tweaks, but solid in premise.

Key thing to me is:
1) keeping the notion of the Kickoff first and foremost.
2) Having this exciting special teams play factor into the game and strategy, and equate to better/worse field position or points depending on the execution and strategy. ie keep the excitement and make it matter!
3) Having the ability to retain possession (onside kick) with at least a degree of possibility similar or slightly better than today. Possibility should be higher with a surprise play.

The league will cite player safety, which i believe is a crock. But if it means modifying the approach to satisfy the 'safety' concern, i'd want to meet my above 3 criteria rather than ban it.
Your suggestion is dangerously close to doing that.

[truthbtold]

Originally Posted by Mantana Soss

You guys sound like baseball fans who don't want replay.

The problem isn't the body padding, it's the head injuries.

Without significant change, the NFL might be out of business in 20 years.

Bigger/Stronger/Faster players, greater awareness, and a ton of lawsuits from retirees has brought the concussion issue to the forefront, not Goodell.

The more the NFL does to combat the issue, the better chance they have against claims of neglect.

You guys are freaking out. Kickoffs, especially since the 5 yard move, are stupid. It's procedure for the sake of procedure, like extra points.

Bradway, the problem with your idea is that it makes onside kicks almost a 50/50 proposition. No team would ever actually kick off. The ball traveling 30 yards would end up at the 40... 10 yards in front of where the kicking team is lined up.

I don't mind the initial proposal, I'd move the punts up to the 40 and make punts out of bounds illegal as they are on kickoffs.

Either way, kickoffs are the most dangerous play in the game, no other plays do guys get the chance to build full heads of steam and collide with other guys doing the same.

Godell is ruining the game with these idiotic rule changes. The first thing I do now, after a big hit is look for a flag, because he continues to keep his head up his ass while he destroys the fabric of the game ... instead of simply addressing the REAL problem.

The reason guys are getting hurt more severely and more often is obvious ... the entire NFL is rampant with steroid abuse. You have guys now who are built like bodybuilders, but somehow run like olympic sprinters. How do you think they accomplish that? But instead of policing the players, Godell continues to look for ways to bastardize and trick up the sport. First you couldn't hit the QB ... then you couldn't hit the receivers ... now he wants to eliminate the kickoff?? What's next?

Let's face it ... the majority of these impact injuries could be avoided, or lessened if the players were smaller and slower. The real question is ... do we as fans, want to see that happen? I was never a huge anti-steriod guy when it came to the NFL, but enough is enough. When it gets to the point that the game needs to be "genetically altered" just to be safely played, maybe its time to get these guys off the juice.

[LongTimeJetsFan]

Originally Posted by Mantana Soss

You guys sound like baseball fans who don't want replay.

The problem isn't the body padding, it's the head injuries.

Without significant change, the NFL might be out of business in 20 years.

Bigger/Stronger/Faster players, greater awareness, and a ton of lawsuits from retirees has brought the concussion issue to the forefront, not Goodell.

The more the NFL does to combat the issue, the better chance they have against claims of neglect.

You guys are freaking out. Kickoffs, especially since the 5 yard move, are stupid. It's procedure for the sake of procedure, like extra points.

Bradway, the problem with your idea is that it makes onside kicks almost a 50/50 proposition. No team would ever actually kick off. The ball traveling 30 yards would end up at the 40... 10 yards in front of where the kicking team is lined up.

I don't mind the initial proposal, I'd move the punts up to the 40 and make punts out of bounds illegal as they are on kickoffs.

Either way, kickoffs are the most dangerous play in the game, no other plays do guys get the chance to build full heads of steam and collide with other guys doing the same.

You're never going to take blows to the head out of the game of football. I don't care what rule you change. I think everyone's time would be better spent on developing better helmets that protect better as well as detect potential concussions.

Do you have any statistics to prove that kickoffs are the most dangerous plays?

[AbdulSalam]

I can't stand roger goodell and his quest to turn football into ultimate frisbee. the rules changes and allowing the media to wag the dog w/constant commercials have made the game much less entertaining than it was in the day. not all of that is on goodell but if he as the forefront of the wussification of football.

[BacktoQueens]

From Westhoff in an interview done last year.
Another interesting alternative. True special teams coach....wants the kickoff from the 25, but punt style formation.

Q: Can you foresee the day when there are no kickoffs in the NFL?

Westhoff: This drives me crazy. We sent out a memo to all special teams coaches, talking about what [New York Giants co-owner] John Mara said, which is that maybe the play should be gone. And we said, "OK, here's where we are: Anytime there's a non-play you're going to have a non-coach. If you're going to let this job dissipate don't be prepared to fight back." So what I'm going to do is come up with some kind of alternative proposals in case this train runs goes rumbling down the track, and I came up with one with a whole set of rules, then asked for suggestions from all the coaches. We canvassed all of them and took it in to the NFL office and presented it to them, just so the competition committee would have something in front of them in case if this kind of thing would be proposed. I would say, no, I don't foresee the end of kickoffs, but the pressure is so intense on the commissioner with this concussion stuff that they're scared to death. So what are they going to do? Tell the quarterback not to throw the middle to the middle of the field? Of course not. So I did come up with something.

Q: Like what?

Westhoff: Well, what they're worried about is the big collision caused by lengthy runs. So my thought was to take a little from a kickoff and turn it into a punt return. I would kick off from the 25-yard line, with the kickoff coverage team aligned so it's 5 and 5 (to each side of the kicker) within one yard of the ball. That way, they get no run. I still have a 10-yard restraining area, so you can have an onside kick, with a minimum of five guys lined up 11 yards from the ball. You can have six or seven, but you have to have at least five. And within the 10 yards beyond that, you have to have eight. So you play three deep, and from there, you play ball. Basically, I want the play. I want to give the returner a chance to get the ball. If you kick off from the 25 the average ball will come down at the 5, and it will more closely resemble a punt return. "

[Bellows1]

Originally Posted by Mantana Soss

You guys sound like baseball fans who don't want replay.

The problem isn't the body padding, it's the head injuries.

Without significant change, the NFL might be out of business in 20 years.

Bigger/Stronger/Faster players, greater awareness, and a ton of lawsuits from retirees has brought the concussion issue to the forefront, not Goodell.

The more the NFL does to combat the issue, the better chance they have against claims of neglect.

You guys are freaking out. Kickoffs, especially since the 5 yard move, are stupid. It's procedure for the sake of procedure, like extra points.

Bradway, the problem with your idea is that it makes onside kicks almost a 50/50 proposition. No team would ever actually kick off. The ball traveling 30 yards would end up at the 40... 10 yards in front of where the kicking team is lined up.

I don't mind the initial proposal, I'd move the punts up to the 40 and make punts out of bounds illegal as they are on kickoffs.

Either way, kickoffs are the most dangerous play in the game, no other plays do guys get the chance to build full heads of steam and collide with other guys doing the same.

And there's part if the problem. They made kick offs out of bounds a penalty because they wanted the excitement of hard hits on the runback. They could easily make anything kick inside the 20 or oob, come out to the 20. Fewer run backs trying to get off the goal line or inside the 10.

[Barcs]

Westhoff: Well, what they're worried about is the big collision caused by lengthy runs. So my thought was to take a little from a kickoff and turn it into a punt return. I would kick off from the 25-yard line, with the kickoff coverage team aligned so it's 5 and 5 (to each side of the kicker) within one yard of the ball. That way, they get no run. I still have a 10-yard restraining area, so you can have an onside kick, with a minimum of five guys lined up 11 yards from the ball. You can have six or seven, but you have to have at least five. And within the 10 yards beyond that, you have to have eight. So you play three deep, and from there, you play ball. Basically, I want the play. I want to give the returner a chance to get the ball. If you kick off from the 25 the average ball will come down at the 5, and it will more closely resemble a punt return. "

Hey, what do you know? A logical solution that would fix it without totally ruining an important aspect of the game. Goodell will never go for it. Kickoffs from the 35 are pointless as is. This would actually make it somewhat meaningful again and prevent injury as well.

[Jake]

Now he's looking at more playoff teams. Jesus fucking Christ, just leave the sport alone you half-wit!

[displacedfan]

Originally Posted by Jake

Now he's looking at more playoff teams. Jesus fucking Christ, just leave the sport alone you half-wit!

On top of it, he was told by Taglibue that all his suspensions are wrong basically.

[BeastBeach]

Originally Posted by Jake

Now he's looking at more playoff teams. Jesus fucking Christ, just leave the sport alone you half-wit!

Saw this when I got home and automatically got my blood boiling.

Yes lets turn it into the NBA where half the damn teams in the league get in. And at least the NBA has series so the shit teams don't make any noise for the most part.

The playoffs are supposed to reward teams for being good not for getting a C. Hell lets just make it like the NCAA tournament and let 28 teams in

[Diddy]

Originally Posted by Jake

Now he's looking at more playoff teams. Jesus fucking Christ, just leave the sport alone you half-wit!

Basically, it would take away from the excitement of the playoff push in December. I like this format because it rewards teams who did well in the Regular season with a bye.

[devilonthetownhallroof]

I hate Goodell and can't wait until he's gone, but I think a lot of this stuff is overblown. I bet past commissioners considered stuff like this all the time, but the media culture we have now wasn't around to report on everything.

He's actually DONE enough to hate him, but I'm not going to get worked up over him considering things.

That said, if he actually does eliminate the kickoff or add playoff teams, I hope he dies in a flaming bucket of AIDS.

[Br4dw4y5ux]

I'm actually thinking the idea I had above but make it a place-kick from the 30 and the ball is live once it hits the opposing 40. A holder must hold the ball for the kicker on the kickoff. That takes one guy out of the immediate pursuit on the kicking team and maybe puts the recovery odds by the kicking team at about 30%, which is where they should be.

Have the return team line up two men deep instead of one with the proviso that both of them must be in the end zone when the ball is kicked. One of the guys can take off straight up the field the moment the ball is kicked and probably becomes the most likely guy to recover a short kick.

[CJLang]

Bill Belichick was scoffed at last year when he said the league was going to try to get rid of the kick-off, which he said was the most exciting play in the game.

[Br4dw4y5ux]

Originally Posted by CJLang

Bill Belichick was scoffed at last year when he said the league was going to try to get rid of the kick-off, which he said was the most exciting play in the game.

The NFL is a decade away from going out of business if they don't figure out the injury issues. Litigation will cause them to lose popular support. Loss of popular support will cost them the big money TV contracts. Cigarettes would be gone by now if televising smoking for money was part of the equation.

[BeastBeach]

Agreed the concussion stuff is kinda necessary. But all this talk of regular season expansion and playoff expansion needs to stop. Like somebody above posted, if it is just talk then ok. But if there is any seriousness to it then Goodell needs to GTFO

Can somebody explain to me why sports like boxing and UFC get a pass for all the concussion stuff?

[Br4dw4y5ux]

Originally Posted by BeastBeach

Can somebody explain to me why sports like boxing and UFC get a pass for all the concussion stuff?

Boxing has declined dramatically in popularity over the last generation due in large part to concussion issues and the danger factor. Ali and Duk-soo Kim are the poster boys for why Boxing has declined although Mike Tyson is also part of the problem.

The bigger issue you raise though is related to who plays the sport. Football is played by everybody and by many children, Boxing and UFC not.

[GordonGecko]

Originally Posted by Br4dw4y5ux

Boxing has declined dramatically in popularity over the last generation due in large part to concussion issues and the danger factor.

Yeah right. Boxing has declined because all the heavyweights these days suck and are no-name losers. MMA has filled the void in popularity, which is 10 times as dangerous