This used to be a fun play to watch, but now all they do is kick it out of the back of the endzone. I understand about player safety, but there has to be something better than this
I'm surprised they haven't done away with the illegal procedure penalty by now. Seems that's what they want anyway.
Absolutely right, which means that this year will be a Super Bowl where there could be an exciting kickoff return, unless of course there's a blizzard going on.
2015 - The National Football League announces today that they have done away with the kickoff, once one of the most exciting plays in the game of football. Instead of a replacement; They will now just have offenses start at the 20 yard line because "that's basically all that's been happening anyway" That's what's going to happen. Kickoffs are a joke now, pointless. So sad, I used to love that part of the game.
The problem is, when you take away kickoffs you also take away onside kicks. I don't think even Roger Goodell wants that to happen. Onside kicks are exciting and game-changing. Right now we are at a happy medium, I guess... the injuries from kickoffs have gone down, and it is extremely boring, but onside kicks still happen.
I agree with OP. Kickoffs are officially pointless. You might as well just give them the ball at the 20. It's not like the majority of injuries even come from kickoff returns. It's a big joke. With fair catch and everything else, there's no reason to have the kickoff so close. It ruins a critical aspect of the game. Hell why not just eliminate special teams altogether? It seems in 10 years we'll be there anyway. Forget punting. Just give them the ball 50 yards from where you where. Why allow skill to matter at all? NFL is getting softer and softer.
I think this can make the beginning of the game more interesting and make up for lack of interest on KOs:grin: [YOUTUBE]FeeVwkLYD5g[/YOUTUBE]
Is it ever! I watched various games yesterday, and most were either touchbacks or players electing not to come out of the EZ. They need to put the ball back where it was.
they don't want more KOs, this is exactly what he NFL wants. less collision plays like KO returns. There w2ill be more as it gets colder and harder to kick to deep in the EZ but they aren't moving it back to the 30.
I kind of like the idea of changing the kickoff to a punt. Make it a play, that if the team wanted to go for it (onside kick) they'd have to get 10 yards in order to keep the ball. Have the LOS be the 40. There are a ton of fair catches on Punt Returns anyway, so there would be less returns, less injuries, but still the potential for a return. I also believe there are less injuries on the Punt play vs the Kickoff as well. The fake punt for the onside kick would be exciting. Also, keep the rule that you have to kick it in play. If you punt it out of bounds then the returning team would start their possession at the 45 like they do now.
Agreed. I like that idea and it would at least keep an important aspect of the game in field position to avoid extinction. I mean with fair catches, there shouldn't really be any huge collisions on kickoffs. I haven't seen one in a long time.
They really need to move the ball back to the 30 yd line, or start thinking outside the box which both protects players and keeps the kickoff alive. Suggestion from the great Westhoff which i really like:
What's strange is that the first year that they did move kickoffs up, touchbacks were unchanged...now all of a sudden guys are booting it out of the endzone. Why? I bet the NFL uses juiced footballs for kickoffs only
