No more onside kicks?

Do some football and concussion research and see if you still agree with the comment you just made.

If we want this game we all love to be around for years to come things need to change to protect the athlete.

There is no question that the brain is damaged while playing this game whether it be middle, high, college, or pro football.

And it will always be this way as long as football exists. Show me how many concussions happen on onside kicks. Not many. Now look at how many happen on a clean legal hit on WR, RB or QB. Concussions will never be eliminated from the game. The new rule only allowing the kick off team to be 5 yards from the ball is dumb. If they kick from the 35 and start at the 30 then they are running an estimated 40-80 yards to hit someone. How long does it take someone to get up to full speed? Like I said, they should just eliminate kickoffs altogether if they want to prevent it more. But that's only a small piece of the pie.
 


It's not the player catching the onside catch that's getting blown up. It's the 4-5 guys that are protecting him that are getting blown up by the 4-5 guys from the other team trying to break through the wall. A lot of times on an onside kick the receiving guy doesn't get touched.
 






Moving the ball up to the 35 might actually cause more onside kicks. There's somewhat less risk of trying it from the 35 than from the 30. KF won't go for it, but I could see some other rick taking coaches giving it a shot.
 


I agree with this rule change, but in lieu of the high-bounce kick, come-backs become less likely, so some other means should be added of getting an extra possession ... thoughts on how to do that?
 




It has always been possible to fair catch a kickoff. Rarely done though.

Most onside kicks dont allow time to call fair catch as low or bouncing,which would prohibit a fair catch. Havent read full rule change so maybe something there I dont know about.

Actually a well-executed onside kick is high-bounced, so the fair catch doesn't apply. You'll often see smart players fair catch an onside kick which is popped up instead of bounced.
 


And it will always be this way as long as football exists. Show me how many concussions happen on onside kicks. Not many. Now look at how many happen on a clean legal hit on WR, RB or QB. Concussions will never be eliminated from the game. The new rule only allowing the kick off team to be 5 yards from the ball is dumb. If they kick from the 35 and start at the 30 then they are running an estimated 40-80 yards to hit someone. How long does it take someone to get up to full speed? Like I said, they should just eliminate kickoffs altogether if they want to prevent it more. But that's only a small piece of the pie.

Onside kicks are rare therefore of course less concussions will occure during this time period of a game, if it even occurs.

Just because concussions are part of the game doesn't mean it's not wise to eliminate situations that leave the player openly vulnerable to an extreme hit.

Lastly,in my earlier post I wasn't talking about kickoffs more so the game in general and what another poster had said.
 


Just get rid of punts, kickoffs and on-side kicks. After a TD or FG, the other team gets the ball on their 25 yard line. If a team decides to give up possession on 4th down, the other team gets it 35 yards down the field or their own 25 yard line, whichever is further from their own goal line.

The game wouldn't change that much.
 


Just get rid of punts, kickoffs and on-side kicks. After a TD or FG, the other team gets the ball on their 25 yard line. If a team decides to give up possession on 4th down, the other team gets it 35 yards down the field or their own 25 yard line, whichever is further from their own goal line.

The game wouldn't change that much.

How many games between 2002 and 2005 would the Hawks have lost, if these were the rules? The game would change a ton.
 


Just get rid of punts, kickoffs and on-side kicks. After a TD or FG, the other team gets the ball on their 25 yard line. If a team decides to give up possession on 4th down, the other team gets it 35 yards down the field or their own 25 yard line, whichever is further from their own goal line.

The game wouldn't change that much.


Dumb. There would be no way for kicking errors. Shanking a punt or kick happens enough that kicking is a vital part of football.
 




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