Roger Goodell considering removing kickoffs all together
By Mike Dyce
Sept 5, 2012; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; NFL commissioner Roger Goodell before the game between the Dallas Cowboys and the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Noah K. Murray/THE STAR-LEDGER via USA TODAY Sports
The very unpopular Roger Goodell is considering making another unpopular decision regarding the NFL and the sport of football. Many have criticize him for his rule changes that have made the sport less competitive and harder for defensive players to make plays they’re accustomed to while trying to protect the offensive players.
The NFL recently moved the starting position of kick offs to encourage more touchbacks in an effort to reduce the number of injuries that occur in the often chaotic and penalized kick off returns. That change increased the number of touchbacks from 16.4% to 43.5% last year according to Elias Sports Bureau.
But in a interview with Time magazine, Roger Goodell says the NFL has at least one suggestion for replacing kickoffs that came from Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Greg Schiano. Schiano was previously a coach at Rutgers and saw his player Eric LeGrand paralyzed during a kickoff return in October of 2010.
“I believe that day will come,” coach Schiano said in an interview with ESPN Magazine in September about removing kickoffs from professional football. “Unfortunately, it will probably take more players being seriously hurt. But I think there’s another way to do this.”
So Schiano, the man famous for blowing up the victory formation, suggested an alternative to the kickoff. The team that would be kicking off, instead gets the ball on their own 30 yard line in a 4th and 15 situation. The team would punt the ball away or instead, could go for it, replacing an onside kick. If they failed to convert, the opposing team would get great field position.
Goodell, according to Time magazine, even discussed the idea with the head of the league’s competition committee, Rich McKay.
“The fact is, it’s a much different end of the play,” Goodell said, according to Time magazine. “It’s different and makes you think differently. It did me.”