The 2024 Super Bowl is less than two months away, but the National Football League is already looking to the future. New rule changes are being implemented for the 2024-2025 season, which could significantly change the way football matches begin.
On March 26, NFL owners approved new rules that revamp how kickoffs are handled. This makes NFL kickoffs (plays that start drives) more similar to kickoffs seen in the XFL, a minor football league that later merged into another league, the UFL.
This kickoff change was approved for a one-year trial period, but may continue beyond that if deemed successful. The NFL's kickoff rule change may not sound like a big deal to some, but many sports experts say it's one of the biggest changes to football in years. Says.
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What does the rule change involve?
This change has to do with where players are positioned before kick-off. As in the past, the kicker on the kicking team “will continue to kick from the 35-yard line,” NPR reported. However, “rather than being flanked by teammates, the rest of the kicking team will line up at the opponent's 40-yard line.” This eliminates the need for a first-place start often seen during kickoffs. Masu.
Meanwhile, returning teams “will have up to two returners in the backfield, and the rest of the team will line up in a new 'setup zone' between the 30- and 35-yard lines,” NPR reported. Only the kicker and returner are allowed to move “until the returner touches the ball or the ball hits the ground.” This eliminates the “fair catch” rule, and “kicks that are caught or kicks that land in the landing zone must be returned, but kicks that don't reach the landing zone are considered touchbacks,” CNN reported. Ta.
Another big change involves onside kicks. In an onside kick, a team attempts to maintain possession of the ball by kicking it to their own player. NPR notes that teams “sometimes chose to surprise their opponents by attempting an onside kick early in the game,” but that “teams had to announce onside kick attempts in advance. , that option no longer exists.”
Why is this change being implemented?
As part of an effort to minimize concussions, the NFL “has implemented rule changes aimed at reducing returns over the past 15 seasons,” ESPN reported. The latest changes are the latest in that effort. ESPN also said the league previously “moved kickoffs from the 30-yard line to the 35-yard line, banned wedges and double-team blocks, and created a rule that would allow fair catches at the 25-yard line in 2023.” It pointed out. -Yard line. ”
There is evidence that these changes have, in part, reduced injuries. Among the changes over the past 15 years, touchbacks “increased dramatically over this period, with the touchback rate dropping to a league-record 21.7% in 2023,” ESPN reported. “The number of concussions decreased as well, but only in tandem with the decline in revenue.” However, we don't see a significant change in the rate of concussions per kickoff.
Notably, these previous measures “reduced the number of kicks and reduced injuries, but the league did not address the root causes of injuries,” The Athletic said. The NFL hopes the new kickoff rule will “eliminate the run-up starts players make on traditional kickoffs that can lead to major collisions, concussions, and other injuries.”
CBS News reported that the changes represent perhaps the NFL's most sweeping effort yet to “modify kickoffs to improve player safety without eliminating the play entirely.”
“It's the unknown that people are scared of, but that's what excites me,” Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell told USA Today. NFL Competition Committee Chairman Rich McKay expressed similar sentiments to The Associated Press, saying there is “some fear of the unknown.”
“I think the optics are definitely the most fundamental.” [rule change] “The thing that gives us the most comfort is that we have the tape and we have seen it,” McKay said. We can show you the plays and see how this plays out,” he said. He also said he would “vote on this rule” before the next draft because it could affect how teams construct their rosters. “There is an urgency to do so,” he said.
