NFL VP of Football Operations Troy Vincent said Thursday on “The Dan Patrick Show” that the league is considering eliminating kickoffs.
Vincent said this when asked about eliminating the play from the game:
We talked about it at length, yesterday, frankly all over the weekend. When you just look at the medical data — and I would tell you the team of Jeff Miller and Dr. Seals — the data we now collect, with the data, the research, the science, the video tying all those things together…It could be something we really have to examine.
I actually don’t hate this move at all if we’re talking just from a safety perspective. There’s no doubt that kickoffs are one of the most dangerous parts of the game. You have full-grown freak athletes running at each other at full speed and colliding in violent fashion. You’re just asking for a player to get hurt.
It would be interesting to see how the NFL handles changes of possessions with kicks being removed from the game. Would teams just take possession of the ball at the 20? What about punts? It seems like there are plenty of kinks and issues that still need to be worked out, but it’s an interesting discussion to be having.
Also, it’s not gonna be fun for all the special team players who are going to be out of a job if this rule change suggestion becomes real. That won’t be fun for them at all.