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Originally Posted by Canfootball52
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I'm not an official, but the reason given in the article for opposing that rule change -- more injuries because of more live ball returns of kickoffs -- is just silly. If there's a certain risk of injury on any kickoff return, so the risk would be proportional to the number of kickoff returns, that's an argument for eliminating free kicks in general (as is done sometimes in youth football, HS frosh, etc.), not for trying to produce a few more touchbacks. There's no "break point" involved, nothing to indicate the risk-exposure relationship is anything but linear, so there's no good argument for a change on that basis. It's not like limiting the number of pitches a pitcher can throw in a day of baseball, where the injuries increase nonlinearly.
They've been increasing the distance to the goal line from the kickoff spot ever since it was the midpoint of a 110-yard field, and this is the first I've seen anyone argue against it on safety grounds.
Robert