NFL officials left the March owners’ meetings in Arizona with the idea that a new rule governing kickoffs would be rubber-stamped in late May in Minnesota. They’ll end up there next week with a lot more to think about than they bargained for.
According to several sources, strong opposition to the rule change has coalesced among special teams coaches and players over the last week, bonding them to form an organized effort to kill the proposal.
The proposal, approved by the competition committee, then tabled by the owners in March, would allow for fair catches inside the 25-yard line to be ruled as touchbacks, with the ball then being spotted at the 25. The proposal was in response to an uptick in concussions on kickoffs over the last three seasons—with 10 such concussions happening in 2020, 14 in ’21 and 19 last season.
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