Fair Catch kickoff rule

[PSUinCAfan]

Had the Monday night football games on in the BG, but what I caught of the Houston vs. New Orleans game I was impressed with special teams calls. Obviously the on-side kickoff was a great call but what caught my eye was the kickoff in the 4th where the kickoff went very high and short of the end zone forcing the returner to field it and was downed well short of the 20 yds. line. Late in the game with a close score Houston had poor field position which likely changed the play call sheet to be shorter and you could see on the Houston players faces a emotional crutch.

College games on any kickoff the rule allows the returner to simply call a fair catch and have the ball placed as a touchback on the 25 yard line. Just had to say how much I dislike the college rule. It takes so much excitement and game strategy away.
Yeah, I understand that the rule was put in place for safety reasons, but then the NFL for the 2019 season put in some simple changes that makes the special teams play so much better.

The kickoff team must have five players on each side of the ball and cannot line up more than one-yard from the restraining line. For example, the kicking team will line up at the 34-yard line for a kickoff from the 35-yard line.
The new rule will force players to wait at the 34-yard line. The goal is to slow down the coverage unit a bit and reduce the speed of collisions with blockers. Eight of the return team's 11 players will now begin a kickoff in a 15-yard zone near midfield.

Sure hope the NCAA rethinks the kickoff rule.

 

[cavic]

My guess is that the rule was changed out of safety concerns. If so, it won't be changing anytime soon.

 

[PSU_Nut]

Had the Monday night football games on in the BG, but what I caught of the Houston vs. New Orleans game I was impressed with special teams calls. Obviously the on-side kickoff was a great call but what caught my eye was the kickoff in the 4th where the kickoff went very high and short of the end zone forcing the returner to field it and was downed well short of the 20 yds. line. Late in the game with a close score Houston had poor field position which likely changed the play call sheet to be shorter and you could see on the Houston players faces a emotional crutch.

College games on any kickoff the rule allows the returner to simply call a fair catch and have the ball placed as a touchback on the 25 yard line. Just had to say how much I dislike the college rule. It takes so much excitement and game strategy away.
Yeah, I understand that the rule was put in place for safety reasons, but then the NFL for the 2019 season put in some simple changes that makes the special teams play so much better.

The kickoff team must have five players on each side of the ball and cannot line up more than one-yard from the restraining line. For example, the kicking team will line up at the 34-yard line for a kickoff from the 35-yard line.
The new rule will force players to wait at the 34-yard line. The goal is to slow down the coverage unit a bit and reduce the speed of collisions with blockers. Eight of the return team's 11 players will now begin a kickoff in a 15-yard zone near midfield.

Sure hope the NCAA rethinks the kickoff rule.

I have a close friend who is a head coach at a smaller school that was on the rules committee and he said if you saw the injury statistics the majority of the people would be calling for the kick off to be eliminated. He said the magnitude of the amount of injuries compared to any other play is ridiculous. Don't hold your breath that any rule changes are made to increase the number of returns.

 

[interrobang]

Faux safety concerns.

I still say make a kickoff through the uprights worth a point. We'll see how that changes things.

 

[WDLion]

Faux safety concerns.

I still say make a kickoff through the uprights worth a point. We'll see how that changes things.

Is the Canadian rule still in effect that if the receiving team doesn't return the kickoff, the kicking team gets one point?

 

[PSU_Nut]

Faux safety concerns.

I still say make a kickoff through the uprights worth a point. We'll see how that changes things.

Have you seen the injury statistics? How can you call them faux safety concerns?

 

[PSUinCAfan]

The AAF will be eliminating kickoffs altogether.
Boring.

I think most fans of football like how special teams can change a game. Take the kickoff away and rules are making America’s favorite sport boring.

I am not crazy and believe the promos that show armored gladiators crushing each other but if we take contact out of the sport i cannot believe the sport to be football as i grew up loving.

 

[PSUinCAfan]

Have you seen the injury statistics? How can you call them faux safety concerns

I do not call them false concerns, i just believe rules could be made to keep the safety in mind without eliminating play.

 

[Erial_Lion]

Is the Canadian rule still in effect that if the receiving team doesn't return the kickoff, the kicking team gets one point?

Kickoffs, punts, missed FGs, etc. Any kick that isn’t returned out of the end zone is a point.

 

[sluggo72]

The AAF will be eliminating kickoffs altogether.
Boring.

I think most fans of football like how special teams can change a game. Take the kickoff away and rules are making America’s favorite sport boring.

I am not crazy and believe the promos that show armored gladiators crushing each other but if we take contact out of the sport i cannot believe the sport to be football as i grew up loving.

I heard the AAF will be eliminating paying vendors as well

 

[Nitwit97]

Kickoffs, punts, missed FGs, etc. Any kick that isn’t returned out of the end zone is a point.

A rogue , correct?

 

[Erial_Lion]

A rogue , correct?

Rouge (that’s more old school, seem to just call it a “single” now).

 

[interrobang]

Have you seen the injury statistics? How can you call them faux safety concerns?

I've seen the NCAA's reports on the subject. They don't conclusively say that kickoffs produce more injuries. They throw out lots of stats but the math to me doesn't add up to the conclusions they make

 

[Safety Blitz]

The AAF will be eliminating kickoffs altogether.
Boring.

I think most fans of football like how special teams can change a game. Take the kickoff away and rules are making America’s favorite sport boring.

I am not crazy and believe the promos that show armored gladiators crushing each other but if we take contact out of the sport i cannot believe the sport to be football as i grew up loving.

It’s really not the sport you and I grew up loving. When we were young, those were 215-pound linebackers with 4.7 speed covering kickoffs. Now we have low body fat, 240-pounders with 4.5 speed flying down the field. Bones and joints were not designed for that level of collision, let alone shots to the coconut.
If you don’t like these rules, wait until (God forbid) there is an instant death from one of those big time hits.