New Kickoff Rule

I watched the Ohio State Spring game on BTN. They banned tackling. It wasn't that hard to watch.

That is where football is going to end up (eventually). Blocking will be legal, but tackling will not be. Backs, receivers and QBs will have flags at their waists that must be pulled to accomplish a tackle. Basically, flag football with pads and helmets. The ongoing CTE research is going to kill tackle football. The sport as currently played is too dangerous for these young men who play it. I love the current sport of college football, but it will end for the sake of the players.
I suspect it might... I just hope not for a generation or so longer so I can keep enjoying it but parents have the power to not suit their kids up for it. So who knows. It wouldn't take long. I would think the enticement of college schollies and NFL riches would still be an incentive to keep it going. But if they dummy it down to flag football the $ will dry up... Who wants to watch that??? Count me out if it turns to two hand touch as a fan it'd just do nothing for me. We currently have MMA getting more and more popular. What's more brutal than that? Yet football is too dangerous? It is dangerous for sure always has been. But if you don't know that going in as a parent or player than that's on you. It's common sense.
 


I suspect it might... I just hope not for a generation or so longer so I can keep enjoying it but parents have the power to not suit their kids up for it. So who knows. It wouldn't take long. I would think the enticement of college schollies and NFL riches would still be an incentive to keep it going. But if they dummy it down to flag football the $ will dry up... Who wants to watch that??? Count me out if it turns to two hand touch as a fan it'd just do nothing for me. We currently have MMA getting more and more popular. What's more brutal than that? Yet football is too dangerous? It is dangerous for sure always has been. But if you don't know that going in as a parent or player than that's on you. It's common sense.

I think the difference between MMA and the NFL is sheer volume. One NFL team has 53 players and they go through a 16 game meat grinder every year (plus preseason and playoffs). UFC is an individual sport and you fight about twice a year. In football you see an average of 15 concussions happen live every single week for 17 straight weeks.

The average length of an NFL career is about 3.3 years. The NFL is just churning through players and spitting out lifeless hulks at an alarming rate....for our entertainment. I love the NFL, but when you stop to think about it...its pretty f*cked up
 


I think the difference between MMA and the NFL is sheer volume. One NFL team has 53 players and they go through a 16 game meat grinder every year (plus preseason and playoffs). UFC is an individual sport and you fight about twice a year. In football you see an average of 15 concussions happen live every single week for 17 straight weeks.

The average length of an NFL career is about 3.3 years. The NFL is just churning through players and spitting out lifeless hulks at an alarming rate....for our entertainment. I love the NFL, but when you stop to think about it...its pretty f*cked up
Oh there's no doubt. I've always heard 4 yrs is the NFL avg career. 3.3 or so could be dead on for all I know. But yeah it is brutal. But most of those guys (not all) that played and retired would do it all again for either the love of the game as is and or the money. Regardless of the risks.
 


Oh there's no doubt. I've always heard 4 yrs is the NFL avg career. 3.3 or so could be dead on for all I know. But yeah it is brutal. But most of those guys (not all) that played and retired would do it all again for either the love of the game as is and or the money. Regardless of the risks.

I agree...I just think the NFL is burning the candle at both ends. If they really cared about the players they would drastically change the game...eliminate the preseason, cut the regular season to 12 games, add more bye weeks, etc. However, since all of those changes would equal less income for the owners and there's a never ending string of players desperate to get into the NFL...they just don't care. It will bite them in the ass eventually.
 


I agree...I just think the NFL is burning the candle at both ends. If they really cared about the players they would drastically change the game...eliminate the preseason, cut the regular season to 12 games, add more bye weeks, etc. However, since all of those changes would equal less income for the owners and there's a never ending string of players desperate to get into the NFL...they just don't care. It will bite them in the ass eventually.
The NFL won't even back peddle on doing Thursday night games. (which in my eyes is the easiest thing they could do for starters as well) They are in the money making biz and that's their end goal. But hell there's been more talk of expanding the season rather than cutting it back. I think they force season ticket holders to purchase X amount of pre season games just because they can. Think about what your paying for as a consumer for pre season games. Some die hards eat that up (like I kinda do) but the casual fans don't want to pay full price to watch 3rd/4th stringers they've never heard of battle it out. I know I'm in the minority on getting much out of that. So yeah your suggestions of cutting like 8 games of revenue total out would never fly they'd laugh you out of the building on it.
 


I'm ok with the fair catch as long as it's down where caught - just like a punt. You might think no one would ever fair catch a ball at the 20, 15 or 10 but it happens all the time on punts.

Because it's extremely unfair to give a potential 24 yard bonus to the receiving team, this rule will NOT stay intact beyond this season. I could see the spot being moved back to the 20 (ideally, it should be the 15) on fair catches and staying at the 25 on a touchback.
The 10 yard difference in spot would rebalance the advantage to both teams -- reward the kicking team / defense for a great kick, not crush the receiving team / offense up against the goal line, still achieve the intended safety goals.
Previous to this rule the recieving team could fair catch the ball anywhere on the field and it would be spotted at the point of fair catch. I have seen this a couple times in college football where the second or third tier of blocker fair catch it on the 30ish...
 






Late in the 4th quarter. You are down by 7. Your opponent scores and makes the extra point. Now, they get the ball again with 4th and 15 from their 30? No thanks. I want the ball out of their hands and into ours. Sure if they go for it and miss, we get the ball at their 30. But I don't like giving them an opportunity to keep the ball, particularly if they have a potent, spread-it-around-the-field offense.
 


Here is the NFL's solution:
http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/23385442/proposal-trying-make-nfl-kickoffs-more-punt-play

In short, get rid of the 5 yard head start for the coverage team, force more of the return team closer to the kickoff spot, eliminate blocking within 15 yards of the kickoff spot. The idea is that blockers and coverage-team will be running side-by-side down the field, as opposed to running straight into one another. I like this much better than what CFB is doing.

From NFL data, concussions on kickoffs were 5x more likely than on any other type of play in 2017. Of the kickoff concussions, 1/3 were caused when a player lowered their head and initiated contact (that will also be a point of emphasis).
 


Late in the 4th quarter. You are down by 7. Your opponent scores and makes the extra point. Now, they get the ball again with 4th and 15 from their 30? No thanks. I want the ball out of their hands and into ours. Sure if they go for it and miss, we get the ball at their 30. But I don't like giving them an opportunity to keep the ball, particularly if they have a potent, spread-it-around-the-field offense.

But onside kick gives them an opportunity to keep the ball, although with recent changes, onside success rates have gone down. Based on this analysis, conversion rates for 4th and 15 should be around 14%, which I am pretty sure will be higher than onside kick success. Maybe 4th and 20? Is there a distance to go that would change your mind?
 




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