NEW YORK—Responding to concerns about high injury rates on plays involving a football, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell introduced a possible rule change Friday that would eliminate balls from the game entirely. “Footballs pose a significant safety hazard, and nothing is more important to the league than our players’ safety,” said Goodell, who noted that footballs often hurtle through the air at more than 50 miles per hour before slamming violently into receivers and defenders. “Under the new rules, the NFL would remain committed to preserving the parts of the sport that make it great—players would line up, run, block, and tackle as normal, but they would do so without the highly dangerous footballs we currently use.” Goodell mentioned that the league is also considering a rule change that would reduce unsafe collisions by imposing a strict 3-mph on-field speed limit.
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