NFL Considering No Kickoff

[Rich]

Originally Posted by MD Longhorn

It has become completely clear that for as long as we have the current commissioner, the game will morph and twist until all action is gone and we're left with skill contests or two-hand touch. One tiny piece at a time in a relentless pursuit of the sterilization of the game. It will eventually occur to RG that the best way to prevent injuries is to stop playing the game entirely. This guy is the football anti-christ.

I just hope that on the day he is retired, the game is still recognizable.

I think football at all levels has realized that there are inherently dangerous parts of the game that provide little reward and a lot of risk. I would applaud the elimination of the kickoff -- besides being difficult to officiate, teams have to sacrifice players and/or roster spots for something that only happens a few times a game.

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by Rich

I think football at all levels has realized that there are inherently dangerous parts of the game that provide little reward and a lot of risk. I would applaud the elimination of the kickoff -- besides being difficult to officiate, teams have to sacrifice players and/or roster spots for something that only happens a few times a game.

Well the NFLPA would never go for eliminating roster spots. That would be a big fight but you would have people on the roster that hardly play at all.

I just think they should go to the College Rule and bring the ball out to the 25 or 30 for a touchback.

Peace

[APG]

Originally Posted by JRutledge

I just think they should go to the College Rule and bring the ball out to the 25 or 30 for a touchback.

Peace

They were thinking of doing that, but coaches said they'd just instruct their kickers to kick the ball short and really high so it'd land inside the 10 and there would be a return. And at the NFL level where kickers are miles ahead of college kickers, I think this strategy would really work.

[Rich]

Originally Posted by JRutledge

Well the NFLPA would never go for eliminating roster spots. That would be a big fight but you would have people on the roster that hardly play at all.

I just think they should go to the College Rule and bring the ball out to the 25 or 30 for a touchback.

Peace

I never thought it would eliminate roster spots -- it would just mean that people wouldn't have to sacrifice themselves on speaical teams.

[CT1]

TV will never go for eliminating kickoffs, as that would remove too many "natural" commercial breaks.

[grunewar]

Originally Posted by Rich

I never thought it would eliminate roster spots -- it would just mean that people wouldn't have to sacrifice themselves on special teams.

When I was in the Military a few buds and I traveled to London to see the Minnesota Vikings and St. Louis Cardinals play the first American football game in London's Wembley Stadium in a preseason game on Aug 6, 1983.

We sat behind a bunch of local rugby players who had never seen an NFL game and agreed to keep us in beer if we talked them through the rules and what was happening. GREAT DEAL!

I will never forget after the opening kickoff, when all the players from the kickoff teams were leaving the field and the offenses/defenses were taking the field, one guy turns around and says, "Where are they going?"

I explained it to them.

As rugby players, they just didn't understand why this was needed.......

[Eastshire]

Kickoffs can provide some thrilling moments. They don't very often though. I don't think the kickoff is necessarily a fundamental part of football. There needs to be some way of giving the scoring team a chance of retaining possession but there are many ways of accomplishing that.

To modify the idea floated earlier, give the scoring team an option: the opponents get possession on their 20 or the scoring team retains possession (not sure from where) with 1 down and the line to gain set 15 yards down field.