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The kickoff is one of the most exciting plays in football. The NFL has added rules to try to make that play safer over the years. As exciting as it is, it can also be one of the most violent plays as well, including some of the most frequent high speed collisions in the sport. There have been changes to blocking schemes, and we’ve seen spring football leagues try their own variations to make the play safe while keeping kickoffs exciting. The newest rule change might be detrimental to the excitement and the safety.
This latest rule change is the ball is spotted at the 25-yard line on fair catches in kickoffs. The hope is to see more fair catches as a result. More fair catches means less returns which obviously takes the excitement away from the play. That’s an easy reason to see why fans might not like the new rule. New Orleans Saints special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi also stands against the rule, but for a much different reason. He’s worked on an advisory committee with other special teams coaches around the league since 2018, aiming to make the game’s third phase safer.
But not only does Rizzi not expect teams to actually fair catch kickoffs more often, he objects to this rule because he thinks it will only lead to more chaos and danger. He directly called out the notion of number of returns impacting the reaction to the rule. Rizzi is solely focused on the health of players, telling NewOrleans.Football’s Mike Triplett: “There was this false narrative being thrown around that the coaches didn’t want it because it was gonna be less returns. … The last thing any coach wants is to lose a player to injury.”
He foresees teams attempting to cancel out fair catches with squib kicks. This would lead to even more high speed collisions, clearly counter productive to what the league is trying to accomplish. Rizzi doesn’t believe the league considered the other side of the coin.
Rizzi even went as far to say, “I don’t think there’s a special teams coach in the league – in fact, I know there’s not a special teams coach in the league right now that likes the rule.” He sees other, more effective, ways to make the game safer, such as more penalties for lowering the head. This would put the power in coaches and officials to make the game safer. The extra 15 yards would definitely make keeping your head a point of emphasis. Coaches can teach that part out of the game with an extra motivation of penalties being called.
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