Goodell considering doing away with kickoffs
 

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap100...ating-kickoffs

When the NFL changed the line of scrimmage for kickoffs to increase touchbacks, New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick derisively said that it was only a matter of time before the NFL eliminated kickoffs entirely. He believed that's what the NFL wanted to do.

Belichick might wind up being proven right.

Roger Goodell through the years
Take a look at photos of Roger Goodell through the years.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said that he's taken it under consideration to remove the kickoff entirely.

"It's an off-the-wall idea. It's different and makes you think differently. It did me," Goodell told TIME in a cover story for the Dec. 17 issue.

Even more intriguing is an alternative concept promoted by Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Greg Schiano. Goodell met with the NFL competition committee chairman about the concept.

"After a touchdown or field goal, instead of kicking off, a team would get the ball on its own 30-yard line, where it's fourth and 15," TIME's Sean Gregory writes. "The options are either to go for it and try to retain possession or punt. If you go for it and fall short, of course, the opposing team would take over with good field position. In essence, a punt replaces the kickoffs."

It's an interesting idea. We haven't seen the numbers that punts are that much safer than kickoffs, but the NFL must have the data to support the notion if they were considering it.

The implications for strategy are even more intriguing. If a team is trailing by more than one score very late in the fourth quarter, they likely would to try to go for it on fourth-and-15 instead of punting. That's not an easy situation to convert, but the concept would still make it easier to make a comeback without ever giving the ball back to an opponent.

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leave it alone

Uh, no.

geez the arena league conversion continues.

Goodell needs to be removed from his position.

:facepalm:

WTF?

Stupid. Put a waiver in contracts and keep the game as is...

Chiefs will never get the ball.

**** Goodell

Seems like a horrible gimmick to me, just leave it the way it is.

Does this mean less tv timeouts? If so, I'm all for it.

Make it, take it, ftw!

Goodell please have a seet and lets talk about this

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u...ric-Chair1.jpg

No.

their desire to make football not football is just baffling

greg schiano has the dumbest idea in ****ing history

lol wut

I would be one for eliminating FG's or Extra points, stop being pussys go for 2.

Kickoffs really dont matter anyway.

They keep it and they'll ruin the game. So they flip a coin adn then place the ball at the 20 instead of starting the game with a KO? That sounds exciting!

This is completely absurd.

Leave it alone.

Why don't we get rid of tackling why your at it too? WTF?

Flags attached to waste to replace tackles /Goodell

I don't like seeing Shane Drone returning kicks either, but this is ridiculous.

Do away with field goals and there will end up being a bunch of tie games. They need to quit messing with it.

:spock:

Roger being reeruned as usual. If anything, I'd like to see punts and field goals eliminated.

Coaches should be forced to grow some balls instead of wetting themselves and punting on 4th and inches because it's the "conservative" thing to do.

What a great commissioner.

Anybody else noticing the NFL sucks now?

There have been kickoffs returned for TDs this year...more than last year...

so eat shit Goodell...and go away you bloodsucking ginger midget Lawyer from hell.

All the teams are the ****ing same in style.

How can there be a bunch of tie games? You have to go for 2 each time and not kick extra points.

Then change the over time rules to College...

NFL would be crazy!!!

Actually, studies show that teams are statistically better off going for it on 4th down from damn near anywhere on the field, so I don't really see how eliminating field goals would lead to a bunch of tie games.

Slowly but surely it's getting worse.

I think the rules changes in 2004 were HORRIBLE in hindsight.

It gives the teams with really good QBs WAY too much of an advantage.

And it created slapdicks like Matt Cassel, who weaseled his way into $60 million.

15 years ago Matt Cassel would never have gotten paid.

Eliminating FGs is as stupid as eliminating kickoffs.

****ING LEAVE SHIT ALONE!

The amount of commercials are simply maddening.

Shaun Draughn:

http://cdn2.sbnation.com/uploads/cho...dard_352.0.jpg

Shane Drone:

http://img94.imageshack.us/img94/8317/shanedrone.jpg

"After a touchdown or field goal, instead of kicking off, a team would get the ball on its own 30-yard line, where it's fourth and 15," TIME's Sean Gregory writes. "The options are either to go for it and try to retain possession or punt. If you go for it and fall short, of course, the opposing team would take over with good field position. In essence, a punt replaces the kickoffs."


:huh: So the team that just scored (ala tommbrady) gets the ball back at their own 30 for a chance to score again? Albiet 4th & 15 if you got Tomm ****ing Brady great. Just kick a field goal and keep kicking fiield goals untill you miss. Damn if you got a hell of a FG kicker your in pretty good shape. Good thing Janitkousky(sp) retired.

Well, except for the Chargers and our slow, plodding early-'90s offense (which, by the way, only worked in the '90s because Norv had Aikman, Irvin, Emmitt, and a ridiculously stacked O-line).

His idea for a replacement is very gimmicky, especially considering the final couple of minutes where a team is more likely to be successful with the make it take it style than recovering onside kicks.

I've thought about Belichick's comments a few times, and even though I kind of agree, I don't know if it should change. Even if most kickoffs are returned within the 25 or 30, I don't think you can really take away the chance at an extra 20 or 30+ yards and just place it on the 20 or whatever.

My frustration with it though isn't exactly the kickoff itself or the chance (or lack of) that one will be returned beyond the ~25, but with all the stoppages. When I have a game recorded on my DVR, I generally FF from the time a team scores until the next 1st down, skipping the possible delay while reviewing the score, then the EP, commercials, kickoff/return, and commercials. It's basically 5 minutes of pointless football and commercials that usually results in one easy point and the ball at the ~20-25 yard line.

This kickoff rule would make it a bit easier to stage a massive comeback. I feel like you are more likely to convert 4th and 15 than grab an onside kick.

[QUOTE=KC Tattoo;9185293]"After a touchdown or field goal, instead of kicking off, a team would get the ball on its own 30-yard line, where it's fourth and 15," TIME's Sean Gregory writes. "The options are either to go for it and try to retain possession or punt. If you go for it and fall short, of course, the opposing team would take over with good field position. In essence, a punt replaces the kickoffs."


:huh: So the team that just scored (ala tommbrady) gets the ball back at their own 30 for a chance to score again? Albiet 4th & 15 if you got Tomm ****ing Brady great.

You think because a team has Tom Brady they are going to go for it all the time with 1 down in their own endzone? What?

Their own 30... 70 yards away.

I'm sure there's a better chance at converting a 4th and 15 than getting an onside kick back... more exciting, but very gimmicky.

I wonder sometimes what the game will look like in 25 years. This sounds crazy but Goodell is trying to be forward thinking. I posted an article a week or so ago about new discoveries between football and brain damage. It didn't get any responses, and I didn't expect it to... but you wonder how much the game will change over the next couple decades as they figure out playing football causes head trauma and people start freaking out over it.
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I've certainly noticed.

Goodell has become mad with power and the officiating has become a joke. The league bends over for Kraft, Green Bay, and the Rooneys on a yearly basis.

For the first time in my life, I can honestly say that the NBA provides a better product than the NFL, especially since $tern is leaving at the end of the year.

I'm considering doing away with Goodell.

Goodell is a ****ing moron...basically if you don't have an elite kick returner, kickoffs are a waste of time now.

I haven't been interested in a single Chiefs kickoff return this year. Every single one is bullshit.

Guess I totally missunderstood. They lost me at taking away the kickoff. The kickoff is when the adrenaline rushes in.

This just sounds completely awful.

Yup...

This is it. NFL is busy laying the groundwork for the future. The FUTURE of massive lawsuits. In the future, I can see not only the kickoff becoming a thing of past, but also the punt.
Oh, and QB's. No one can hit them. OR maybe they will be in a force field.
Oh and one more thing, tackle gently. A kinder gentler tackle please

Next step, replacing the football with a soccer ball and instituting a no hands rule.

That's literally one of the dumbest ideas I've ever heard.

Dante Hall, Devin Hester, Joshua Cribbs, Brian Mitchell, Deion Sanders all are saying "What you talking about Willis?"

They most definitely do if you're up by two scores. If you're winning by, let's say, 20-10, and the opposing team drives down and scores with :45 seconds left. Now it's 20-17. Instead of sealing the game by fielding the onside kick attempt, the other team immediately has the ball with a chance to win the game.

I don't like it.

Goodell is ruining this game.

It's a pussy league enough already.

I think something much more compelling that I would love to see an NFL team try (it won't ever happen because NFL coaches mindlessly follow what the leader of the pack is doing) is never punting. The case is very compelling.

http://www.footballoutsiders.com/sta.../never-punting

Roger Goodell is a steaming pile of shit

A billion dollar buisness hiring jokes as refs over such a small amount of money should have been the last mistake he ever made.

**** you Roger.

Scott Mitchell.

Yeah. he would've.

...seabass is still playing, dawg. besides, their OWN 30. that would be a 87 yard FG. not happening.

see sig

truth is most nfl games already suck unless you're a fan of one of the team's playing...

and there aren't enough good QBs to take advantage of the pro-offense rules...

tackling is for shit with the exception of a couple of defenses....the NFL has already peaked in terms of being a compelling event

pretty much the only thing they can do from here on out is screw it up more in the name of safety...

Yeah maybe I didn't think that all the way through. Still IMO it would suck. And if the game is tied late in the 4th qtr it's going to be harder for either team to win the game if they have to score a TD instead of kicking a FG and that could lead to a tie game. And don't forget about TV and time constraints.

That's just dumb. I can't believe these ****ers make all that money to come up with the most ridiculous shit ever.

If you want to get rid of kickoffs, just give the other team the ball on their twenty after a score.

Problem solved, now where is my ten million?

Too bad. It's clutch time in the 4th, it's supposed to be difficult.

Not to mention, it's not like the kicker is guaranteed to make a clutch field goal anyway (I know this full well), so....

yet they still get to troll out there on Sunday and **** up games...

They can't address totally subjective and game changing calls like Pass Interference with instant replay.

BUT BY GOD THEY CAN CHANGE KICKOFFS EVERY YEAR.

WWFL

No, Scott Mitchell had some talent. The dude ran a badass pass-first offense for a few years.

He was just an injury prone choker.

Matt Cassel RAPED the Hunt family because the league changed the passing rules.

So true. And it did not used to be that way.

I would take the replacement refs back in a second over the likes of Hochuli and Leavy.

The replacement refs had a few blown calls. The regular refs are responsible for travesties such as Super Bowl XL and the Tuck Rule Game. 'Nuff said.

So with field goals it's still difficult.

Next up, Goodell makes field goals worth 10 points, and touchdowns 25.

for all the flash, there seems to be a generalized incompetence that is hard to explain...very few teams are good at more than one thing, most are average to bad at several...

Teams are not unique enough. Just a rotating band of mercenaries who don't actually care where they play or the organization they represent.

The constant focus on the individual and fantasy football has made the league shit.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Crennel thought he could beat Denver with Fg's... Take them away and he still wouldnt know what happened.

Could you imagine Marty and Herm without FG's... They would never score...

Who would go for a 4th and 15 on their own 30?

What's a way to make kickoffs safer? Is the speed gunners run downfield to kill the return that makes it so unsafe? Rhetorically speaking of course.

If I was commissioner, here's what I would do.

You make the field 70 yards long, but you have two fields in parallel. You then connect them with curves in the end zone to make the thing a big race track. If a guy scores standing up, he keeps running around the track. He gets more points for getting around the curve and reaching the second field, and even more points if he can traverse that entire field. He keeps going until someone finally brings him down. If he can make it fifty laps, his team is racking up points like a pinball machine.

Now, the defensive team can choose to chase the guy, or they can run around in the other direction to stop him on the other side. If a guy is really fast and he scores, some of the defenders may chase him and others will run the opposite direction so they can stop him on the next lap. Maybe you even have a rule where the defenders can throw another guy on the field every time an endzone is crossed.

It would be loads of fun.

If Schiano wants to improve player safety, how about not telling his D-line not to lunge at the knees of the opposing players when the game is essentially over?

A team down by 7 with 2:00 minutes remaining and a suspect defense? Then again, you have an onsides kick for that.