If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
Well, what if you fixed something that was broken, but decided that it still wasn’t good enough?
Fix it some more?
That is what the NFL is trying to do once again with its kickoff format after the ‘biggest rule change in 30 years’ proved to be the success that the league was hoping for.
According to the league office, the one-year returns on the ‘dynamic’ kickoff rule proved fruitful.
NFL Executive Vice President Jeff Miller deemed the change a huge victory.
“Returns were up 57 percent year over year,” Miller said.
“We saw the starting line advance several yards, we saw more touchdowns, we saw more dynamic kickoffs out past the 40, and we saw a lower injury rate.
“So, all the things we hoped to see with the dynamic kickoff.”
However, the change to the kickoff was only a one-year switch, meaning it will require at least 24 teams to once again approve for it to return in 2025.
Last year team owners agreed to the change to the tune of a 29-3 ruling in favor of implementing the new rules.
Not only is the league hoping to keep the new format, but they are looking to tweak it even more.
This is despite groans from the fans, who never seemed to care for the change to begin with.
According to NFL Competition Committee chairman and Atlanta Falcons CEO Rich McKay, the league is considering moving both the spot of a touchback to the receiving team’s 35-yard line and the kickoff line five yards backward.
This would incentivize teams to keep the ball in play and avoid booming it as far back as they can for a touchback.
The league wants more returns, and this change would surely help with that.
But if it were up to the fans, they would scrap the ‘dynamic’ kickoff format entirely and go back to how it used to be.
“Go back to old rules,” one fan plainly posted on X.
“The kick-off might as well be musical chairs, given how far they’ve moved away from the traditional game,” another fan chimed in.
“Just put them at the opposing team’s 20 yard line at this point,” a third added.
“They just wanna kill this sport don’t they,” one dramatic fan posted.
The changes the game underwent last season proved to be a success by the league’s own assessment, and knowing the NFL, once it finds a position it likes, it is there to stay.
Regardless if the fans like it or not.