NFL approves ‘radical’ kickoff rule change: Here’s what to know

ORLANDO, Fla. — The NFL kickoff is getting a makeover.

As the league sought to preserve a key phase of games while decreasing the injury risk that high-speed collisions with distance-boosted acceleration create, a proposal for a new configuration passed in a Tuesday morning vote, a person with knowledge of the vote confirmed to Yahoo Sports.

The key changes to kickoffs:

· The kicking team will still kick from the 35-yard line, but players on the kicking team will line up at the opponent’s 40. Those players cannot move, and the kicker himself cannot cross the 50, until the ball hits the ground or a player in the “landing zone” (from the goal line to the 20) or end zone

· The receiving team must have a minimum of nine players lined up in the “setup zone” (between the 30- and 35-yard lines) with a maximum of two returners lined up in the landing zone

· Any kick that hits the landing zone must be returned, while any kick that bounces into the end zone from the landing zone must either be returned or downed by the receiving team for a touchback to the 20-yard line

· Any kick short of the landing zone gives possession to the receiving team at its own 40; any kick that hits the end zone and is downed is a touchback to the 30; and any kick that goes out of the back of the end zone is also a touchback to the 30

· There are no more fair catches

· There are no onside kicks until the fourth quarter begins and a team is trailing, and current onside kick rules would apply

· Kickoffs after safeties will be from the 20, and the kicker will have the option to use a tee; setup and landing zones will not change

The proposal will impact where teams line up in hopes to reverse the trend of what the league felt was becoming a ceremonial play.

“The play will feel different and radical because it doesn’t look like the typical formations we’ve had before,” competition committee chairman Rich McKay said on a recent conference call. “But this play has been used and we’ve seen…

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Publish date : 2024-03-26 14:39:19

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