Unpacking an NFL rule that needs the boot

So, what do you think of the NFL’s new kickoff rules?

Same here.

It’s difficult to believe that a group of reasonably intelligent men got together and thought this convoluted thing was a good idea.

Let’s put it this way: The new rules were inspired by similar rules used in the XFL — which is now defunct. In other words, the NFL is taking lessons from the losers. The XFL, by the way, merged with the USFL to form the UFL, and that league uses — yep, you guessed it — the traditional football rules for kickoffs.

So here’s what we have to endure for the next few months before they punt this cockamamie thing and start over, again. At least 19 players, by rule, are not allowed to move during a kickoff until the ball lands in the “landing zone” or in the kick returner’s hands. They stand frozen in place, in two long lines, looking up at the ball.

Picture a giant foosball table.

The net result for fans is the same: score, followed by a TV commercial, followed by a boring, go-through-the-motions kickoff, followed by another TV commercial, and … rinse and repeat.

It’s about as exciting as C-SPAN.

Criticism of the rule began as soon as it debuted. Headline in The New York Times: The NFL’s New Kickoff Rule is Terrible.

That was in July.

The new kickoff rules are so convoluted that it takes several paragraphs just to explain them. Story after story was written on this subject during the offseason. You’d have thought they were explaining quantum mechanics.

Rule No. 1 for rules: Keep it simple.

The NFL has been around for 105 years and the league is still trying to figure out what to do with kickoffs. The NFL has tweaked kickoff rules in 1920, 1923, 1925, 1926, 1932, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1942, 1944, 1945, 1967, 1979, 1984, 1994, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2018, 2021 and 2024, changing and changing again rules for touchbacks, kickoffs out of bounds, the kickoff spot, the formation, kicking tees, etc.

There are two fundamental problems with kickoffs: They are routine and boring, and they are dangerous.

The kickoff features unnaturally large, strong, fast men running full speed at each other as soon as the ball is kicked. What could go wrong?

It is also remarkably uneventful. The kickoff is a high-risk, low-reward play — a high risk of injury, with very little payoff for the fans or the return team. Whether it is fielded by the return man or downed, it pretty much always ends up with the ball placed at or near the 20-yard line (the average return was 23 yards last season).

The chances of a return for a touchdown are about the same as hitting the jackpot in Las Vegas. Only 22% of kickoffs were even returned in 2023 (down from 38% in 2022) and only four were returned for touchdowns — out of 587 attempts.

The NFL announced the rules changes this way: “To address the lowest kickoff return rate in NFL history during the 2023 season and an unacceptable injury rate on kickoffs prior to that, NFL clubs have approved a new kickoff rule for the 2024 season.”

Weary of kickoffs being kicked so far that they are unreturnable — either deep in the end zone or out of the end zone — the NFL provided incentives for returnable kicks.

Under the new rules, the kickoff must land between the 20-yard line and the goal line. If it lands in the end zone, the return team can opt for a return or take a touchback at the 30. If the ball goes out of bounds or does not reach the 20, the receiving team gets the ball on their own 40. They also moved the kicking team up 25 yards to the opposing 40-yard line, with the ball kicked from the 35-yard line as usual.

How did it work out? After Week 1 of the 2024 NFL season, the results are in. According to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, 63.5% of the kickoffs resulted in touchbacks — not much different than last year’s record-setting touchback rate of 73%. Only three were returned for more than 40 yards, one for a touchdown.

Here’s an idea: Just end it. If the kickoff is so dangerous and unworkable, just kill it. Start each possession by placing the ball on the 20-yard line and let the offense take it from there. Otherwise, leave it alone.