The governing bodies in college football have agreed to get rid of kickoffs for player safety.
There are few things in football more exciting than watching a kickoff returned for a touchdown, but that sight may be now be a thing of the past, at least at the collegiate level.
According to CBS Sports, the American Football Coaches Association’s board of trustees and the NCAA Division I Football Oversight Committee have begun preliminary talks about eliminating kickoffs from college football. If any rule change is to be enacted, it probably won’t come until after the 2017 season.
The reason for this is simple, and it’s one that practically everyone agrees on: player safety. As it is still being reviewed, injury data has not been disclosed, but Roger Redding, one of the heads of the NCAA rules committee, said that “most concussions happen on a higher rate on kickoffs.” There’s no doubt that once it’s released, the injury data will play a big part in deciding whether or not to eliminate kickoffs.
Both the NCAA and the NFL have already moved kickoffs to the 35-yard line to prevent the number of kickoff returns. So far, it has worked, as touchbacks increased by 50 percent in the NCAA. In addition, Pop Warner youth football eliminated all kickoffs across the board, and up North, the CFL only has a kickoff at the start of each half and after a touchdown. Every other time, a team can either choose to kick off or start at the 35-yard line.
Practically every college football executive wants to see kickoffs eliminated. Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby said “I don’t think there is any doubt it is the most dangerous play in the game. How much that’s the case and how we can fix it is unknown.”
Jon Butler, Pop Warner’s executive director, said “My gut feeling is we’re going to see it across the board. In the long run, it’s going to be good for everybody.”
SEC coordinator of officials Steve Shaw said, “If you could look into the data [and] there is a significant injury rate, it would absolutely be worth looking into all options on kickoffs.”
If this rule change goes through, seeing kickoffs getting abolished would certainly feel weird, but time will tell if it was the right decision. And if college football is still successful without kickoffs, it might not be long before the NFL gets rid of them as well.
Visit our NCAA Football page for more news and related content.