Proposed New Rule: Fair Catch on Kickoffs - Ball at the 25

Just adds more instant replay and officating interference in the game as now we'll have to wait while they conference over whether or not he actually signaled for a fair catch.  Kick returns are some of the most exciting plays in the game.   Injuries happen on the sidelines, in practice, in the locker room, on the playground, in the bathtub, in bed, etc.  Just stupid.   Eventually they will take the contact out of the sport altogether and it will be nothing worth watching and the game as we know it will die.  

There are already a large percentage of football plays where the whistle blows and you look to see not one player on either team has left his feet at all. 

Many want to eliminate kicking from 'foot' ball as it is.  Why waste the time and just give the receiving team the option of taking the ball at the 25 to start wit? 

The kicker is becoming extinct and this is sad.  I would go the exact opposite way and add more kicking such as making field goals worth 1 point inside the ten, 2 inside the 20, three inside the thirty, 4 inside the forty, 5 inside the fifty and 6 from beyond fifty.

If one wanted to eliminate a 'not much' kicking play, eliminate the extra point play.  It is probably as automatic as about any play and just go for 2 all the time.'   If the true concern is safety, then dump the PAT play.   They could move the kicking spot forward to give more chance for 'touchback kicks.  

A truly dangerous play is the on sides kick plays where a real scrum is intentionally iniated.  If you want to keep the game interesting, put in the rule that if either team is leading by more than 14 points, then the team that is ahead has to kick off after every score.   I oppose these kinds of changes but it seems like the trend is to make the game 'safer' by taking out contact and making more and more forms of contact impermissable.  

 
Not a big deal.  Most balls caught at the goal line or even a yard deep are ran back - so why would somebody catch a ball at the 5 or 10 after making a fair catch.

 
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I think Mike Pereira is ahead of himself.

According to ESPN it won't be voted on till April.

The quote from ESPN's web site

"The potential change, which was made with player safety in mind, will be sent to coaches and conferences for feedback in the coming weeks. It still needs to be approved by the NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel, which is scheduled to discuss it -- and other proposed rule changes -- April 13."

 
Old Nebraska Guy said:
I think Mike Pereira is ahead of himself.

According to ESPN it won't be voted on till April.

The quote from ESPN's web site

"The potential change, which was made with player safety in mind, will be sent to coaches and conferences for feedback in the coming weeks. It still needs to be approved by the NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel, which is scheduled to discuss it -- and other proposed rule changes -- April 13."
Click to expand...


Thanks.  I was thinking it hadn't actually been implemented yet but was too lazy to do some checking.

 
The way they go about this doesn't make much sense to me. The goal is obviously to reduce the number of kickoffs returns, and if that's the goal they should just remove it from the game, or not remove it from the game. I guess if they're trying to do it slowly to cushion the blow of not having kickoffs, this would be one way to do it.

 
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