http://content.usatoday.com/communi...-moves-kickoff-line-from-35-yard-line-to-30/1 NFL moves kickoff line from 30-yard line to 35; no change on touchbacks NFL owners approved a modification in the kickoff rules on Tuesday, but a less drastic change than the plan the competition committee had proposed last week. Owners gave their OK to move the kickoff line from the 30-yard line to the 35-yard line. But they made no change to the spot of the ball on touchbacks, which the competition committee originally proposed moving from the 20-yard line to the 25. The move should benefit kickoff teams and could penalize kick-return teams. The extra five yards will make it easier for kickers to register touchbacks. For prolific returners such as the New York Jets' Brad Smith and the Chicago Bears' Devin Hester -- who spoke out against the change earlier this week -- the new rule could limit their effectiveness. No change was made to the wedge rule, which will allow teams to have two men line up in wedges for blocking on kick returns. Other rules issues the owners considered on Tuesday: Replay: All scoring plays can trigger automatic replay review from the booth now. Coaches will not necessarily have to throw their challenge flags on such plays. Turf color: The league banned any changes to the color of teams' stadium turf. All turf must be a shade of green, and any changes -- to a Boise State-like blue, for example -- would have to be approved by the NFL. Player safety: Owners declined to act on a competition committee recommendation to expand the definition of defenseless player. They may consider the issue at their May meetings.
I hate this. Kickoffs are almost always going to be touchbacks now unless there is some weather condition. They might as well just start each team at the 20 after a score.
I've read their hope is more touchbacks -- for the safety of players. Is this right? Seems crazy -- kickoff returns are an exciting part of the game...
Got that from here: http://www.footballnewsnow.com/2011/hester-and-bears-against-proposed-rule-changes/ Where I'm from....a 'touchback' is worth a single point....you may be blessed with watching three down ball this fall too .
can't believe that wasnt addressed either, especially how many times this affected games this year. Hate the kickoff change. Returners will need to start wearing a knee pad to prevent bruising with all the knees they will take.
I think that the truth is that owners are tired of paying serious money to return specialists. This reduces the impact of those players and makes it more acceptable to let your 3rd receiver return kicks.
I don't think thats true. Kick returning itself is a marginal field. There are some who are exceptionally good at it, but there isn't a huge concrete difference between the 5th best kick returner in the league and the 20th.
More people get hurt on kick returns than any other play in football. Probably factored into their thinking.
this is true except when teams face the Texans, they'd still want to kick off to Slaton, make the Texans start at the 15 yd line or lower instead of the 20.
This is clearly a move that the owners can point to as being "safety first" if/when the players challenge them on their standards. It's a dumb move that clearly takes away from the excitement of the game, but in this day and age, it's more about petty oneupsmanship than the actual product on the field.
on side kick. 5 yards closer to the 50 yard line now. might as well do it every time since the other team has to travel 5 more yards even if you fail. :grin:
If they were going to do one part and not the other then it makes no sense in some ways. If you put the touchback at the 25 yard line it would give the teams more of an incentive to actually still keep it in a place where they would force the team to actually return it rather than touch back each time. Now there is no incentive or reason for it to not be a touchback each time.
Yes, that was the entire reason for the rule change. But, I don't get it, this is football, we all know it can be dangerous. Grown men running into each other can get hurt. Football is a rough sport, at least it used to be. Football is getting wimpier every year. I don't want to see people get hurt, but this rule literally takes some of the tackling out of the game. A big part of Football is supposed to be the tackling and runners avoiding the tackle. Not on kickoffs I guess.
It's injury thing to make it seem like they're making concessions to the players; In the end, it's basically a fig leaf, sure there is a heightened injury risk on kickoffs, but my understanding is that the NFL's emerging head injury issue, CTE, is believed to be the product of chronic traumatic impacts (hence the name) rather than one-off traumatic events (though they certainly contribute to it and are dangerous in their own right).
How about making blitzing illegal because the qb might get hurt or make play action illegal because its just not fair to the defense These old clueless ass owners have nothing better to do I guess.
I hate this change too! Also what I dont like is about putting [commercial] [kickoff] [commercial]. thats annoying.
