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[ESPN] Goodell floats idea to end kickoffs

tshile

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http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/8720551/roger-goodell-floats-idea-end-kickoffs-report-says

Commissioner Roger Goodell recently discussed a proposal to eliminate kickoffs with Rich McKay, the head of the league's competition committee, Time magazine reported.

Goodell and McKay discussed an idea brought up by Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Greg Schiano in which a team, instead of kicking off, would get the ball at its own 30-yard line in a fourth-and-15 situation. The team then would punt the ball away or, to replace an onside kick, could go for it and, if they failed to get a first down, the opposing squad would start with great field position.


"The fact is, it's a much different end of the play," Goodell said during the meeting, according to Time.


Schiano discussed his idea earlier in the season in an ESPN The Magazine story. Schiano, who was the coach at Rutgers in 2010 when Eric LeGrand was paralyzed on a kickoff, has seen first-hand how the play can adversely affect the safety of players.


LeGrand broke two vertebrae and suffered a serious spinal cord injury in October 2010 during a kickoff return against Army. He became an inspiration to his college teammates, eventually being able to stand upright with the help of a metal frame.


Schiano told ESPN The Magazine in September that he believed kickoffs would eventually be eliminated from pro football. "I believe that day will come. Unfortunately, it will probably take more players being seriously hurt. But I think there's another way to do this."


The NFL already has been working to make kickoffs safer.


Last season, the NFL moved kickoffs from the 30-yard line to the 35 and required the coverage unit to start within 5 yards of the ball, closing the distance between the teams. Both rules had their desired effects. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, 16.4 percent of kickoffs led to touchbacks in 2010; last year it was 43.5 percent. The NFL found that players suffered 40 percent fewer concussions on kickoffs in 2011, McKay told ESPN The Magazine.

"I see where they are coming from as far as trying to look for different ways to make the sport a little safer," Chicago Bears punter Adam Podlesh said Thursday. "Do I think that is going to make it safer or are kickoffs the worst part of the game right now? I would be skeptical on that right now, especially considering they moved it up to the 35-yard line and you see so many fewer returns now.
"You take a look at the touchback percentages now and that's gone up so much and they got rid of the three-man plus wedge and leaving it to a tandem of two guys that can only come together. Maybe doing something with that or even eliminating the two-man tandem might help a little more."

Schiano's plan, however, would eliminate kickoffs altogether. Goodell admitted to Time magazine that the proposal is "an off-the-wall idea."


"It's different and makes you think differently. It did me," Goodell said.p>

Podlesh said such an approach, if enacted, would increase the value of punters.
"Every time you have a score you are basically going to have a punt now, so the amounts of plays a punter is in goes up, and therefore they are more valuable," he said. "Kickoff specialists would essentially be extinct now and field goal kickers would just be field goal kickers and I think that would lower the value to them, too. It would definitely stress have a punter that is very, very good and consistent considering you are going to have more punts."

my opinion:
this idea sucks. why does it seem like they are only capable of coming up with radical ideas?
this commissioner needs to go.
 
The crews on both 106.7 and 980 are both going ape**** over this.

Neither one likes the idea. :)
 
dude seriously why does he resort to the most ridiculous ideas?

wouldn't it be so much easier to penalize people for tackling incorrectly (turning yourself into a missile, keeping your head down, not having your arms extened [ie: shoulder tackling])?

WHY BASTARDIZE THE GAME THIS IS THE DUMBEST IDEA I'VE HEARD IN A LONG TIME

EDIT: SCRATCH THAT. IT'S THE DUMBEST IDEA I'VE HEARD SINCE THE OT RULES WERE CHANGED.
 
I get more and more angry every time I think about this.

Seriously his brain must just be a hamster running on a wheel or something.
 
IT'S THE DUMBEST IDEA I'VE HEARD SINCE THE OT RULES WERE CHANGED.
I hate this idea, but the OT rules changing are great. The old system sucked, and everybody knew it. A coin toss should not determine your probability of winning a game.
 
I think the general fan consensus is - stop screwing with the game. I understand safety considerations, and whatever we can do to make the game safer, obviously, I think we all support that. At some point however, you water the game down or make so many significant changes that it ceases to be the game we all grew up loving. I'll also throw in my cynical view that a primary driver for much of Goodell's *concern* is covering the NFL's ass against future lawsuits, not some humanitarian concern for his fellow human beings.
 
I think the general fan consensus is - stop screwing with the game. I understand safety considerations, and whatever we can do to make the game safer, obviously, I think we all support that. At some point however, you water the game down or make so many significant changes that it ceases to be the game we all grew up loving. I'll also throw in my cynical view that a primary driver for much of Goodell's *concern* is covering the NFL's ass against future lawsuits, not some humanitarian concern for his fellow human beings.

as usual, Boone Preaches the Truth! Anyone who thinks he ever does anything for the "good" of a player, team or fans is fooling themselves!
 
I'll tell you what. Let's eliminate WRs using the middle of the field too.

Let's get rid of blocking, because that's how Mike Utley broke his neck. And no more pass rushing, we don't need to see another Joe T. Oh, and you can't run the ball. Remember Adrian Peterson's knee last year? No punts either. Steve Tasker got hit so hard on a punt return once, I thought he was dead.

Disband the league. It's the only solution.





Idiots.
 
I think the general fan consensus is - stop screwing with the game. I understand safety considerations, and whatever we can do to make the game safer, obviously, I think we all support that. At some point however, you water the game down or make so many significant changes that it ceases to be the game we all grew up loving. I'll also throw in my cynical view that a primary driver for much of Goodell's *concern* is covering the NFL's ass against future lawsuits, not some humanitarian concern for his fellow human beings.

Well, at the risk of being rude, duh. :)

The NFL is a business, and Roger is trying to minimize future loss. There will be some sort of waiver or something at some point that the players have to sign in order to play, that they will not hold the league liable for future damages.

I actually don't envy Roger with this. He has to balance the enormous money-making opportunity in front of him now with player safety 10-15-30 years down the road. It's gotta be tough.
 
Well, at the risk of being rude, duh. :)

The NFL is a business, and Roger is trying to minimize future loss. There will be some sort of waiver or something at some point that the players have to sign in order to play, that they will not hold the league liable for future damages.

I actually don't envy Roger with this. He has to balance the enormous money-making opportunity in front of him now with player safety 10-15-30 years down the road. It's gotta be tough.

And they thought the last CBA negotiation was a major pain in the a**. :dizzy2:
 
Well, at the risk of being rude, duh. :)

The NFL is a business, and Roger is trying to minimize future loss. There will be some sort of waiver or something at some point that the players have to sign in order to play, that they will not hold the league liable for future damages.

I actually don't envy Roger with this. He has to balance the enormous money-making opportunity in front of him now with player safety 10-15-30 years down the road. It's gotta be tough.

Yes, but there are many options on the table.

He's choosing the ones that take the least money out of the owner's pockets to implement, hoping it's enough to defend the NFL in these lawsuits.

That's only a smart business decision until the consumers (us) decide to stop paying for the product. People are getting angry about this stuff, and I personally know a lot of people that have turned away from the NFL - myself included. Yeah, we watch our favorite team, but outside of that we don't watch the NFL anymore... Many of the people I know don't even watch the skins anymore. They're just completely turned off.

I used to watch every game I could - I don't think I've watched an NFL game in its entirety yet this season that didn't include the redskins... I don't think I did last season either, except for the super bowl.
 
I hear you, and no disrespect meant, but it's gonna take more than anecdotal evidence to change the NFL from its present course. The NFL is petrified right now of the impending lawsuits. And I COMPLETELY agree that there are other, better, easier changes that could be made that would still increase safety substantially.

These are the easiest measures that will garner press and attention and will "prove" to everyone that Roger is deeply concered about player safety. These are the attention grabbing headlines that he can point to in 5 years as "proof" that he is doing everything he can to reduce concussions. As Boone correctly pointed out, he doesn't give two ****s about player safety, he cares about profit. If he cared about player safety, he would look seriously into other helmet designs that purportedly reduce concussions greatly, as well as stop the ridiculous Thursday night games.
 
Oh yeah, I know what you mean.

I just don't think this charade is going to hold up in court like the NFL thinks it will.

And despite what anyone says, myself included, ratings are up this year. So I guess the show will go on...
 

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