Well whatever, the NFL just wants any eligible receiver to be more static before the ball is snapped without using any forward enhancing kinetic energy for their advantage to be used to use the rule to their advantage. Whatever, that’s how the NFL wants it, much prefer the CFL rules with receivers, if I want static stuff I watch baseball. No thanks NFL rule on this but I get it, you want the receivers to not be able to “cheat” with how you interpret receivers should be playing according to your receiver rule. Fair enough, don’t have a problem, when I watch the NFL I watch it for “what it is” with the rules just as when I watch the CFL I watch it for “what it is” with the CFL rules. Just different nuances for basically the same sport. I simply prefer the CFL rule from my perspective but that means nothing really I’ll admit. Personally though if the NFL is going to do this, shouldn’t the defense players also not be allowed any unlimited motion? Why must the offense remain static before the ball is snapped but the defenders can do anything they want more or less? Seems a bit odd to me other than the thinking is the offense has the “one up” sort of thing having the ball in the first place. I guess? And yet when the ball is thrown up both the receiver and the defensive back or defender has equal opportuntiy for the ball and an offensive pass interference call can be made? Weird stuff. Then be consistent NFL and make the defenders be static as well.
No, because that’s never been the case for the defense in American football or in any gridiron rules of football for starters.
Defense has always been able to move freely anywhere so long as not across the line of scrimmage or in the neutral zone at the snap.
My post is merely about the rules on motion by the offense before the snap of the ball in NFL football, and I understand the discussion of preferences, which is a different thread too.
Some looks of this new kickoff rule from the Hall of Fame game. It’s very different looking I’ll admit.
Great clip. Other than the two guys who somehow were tripped by that turf monster, the “new” kickoff looks a whole lot like the very old kickoff from 1994, when they first moved it to the 30-yard line, before various other changes ever since, including back to the 35-yard line.
As it’s the pre-season, I suppose the special teams coaches are still figuring this one out.
Part of me still wonders if this is really a means to an end by a few NFL owners with an agenda to simply eliminate the kickoff altogether along the lines of this thinking that might pop out, as if according to some script handed down to NFL media puppets a decade ago that “it’s for safety, you know,” yet again after the 2024 season:
“We’ll, we’re not seeing much different than before the experiment, so why don’t we just get rid of it” appears to be a potential rationale that perhaps is now being cooked up.
The following reality with regards to the new rule, as expressed by Steelers coach Mike Tomlin, has me on the fence on this change.
Tomlin’s logic definitely makes sense: Any team’s goal is going to be to pin their opponent as far back as possible, and by not kicking a touchback, that will give the Steelers a chance to pin their opponent way back. That being said, if it turns out that returners are able to cross the 30-yard line on a regular basis against the Steelers, then it won’t be surprising if Tomlin changes his mind and decides that kicking a touchback would make more sense for his team.
I can see a lot of teams up by a certain amount of points late in the game against a good return team, or alternatively teams down a certain number of points wanting to save precious seconds, simply kicking the ball through the end zone so as to defeat the purpose of this change from the previous rule.
Sean Payton elaborates on the matter, and right now I agree with him.
Check out what happened on this play to the Chiefs.
Basically under the new kickoff rules, if a ball bounces into the endzone and then bounces out of the end zone, it is now a live ball unlike in the past few years when it was whistled automatically dead and a touchback.
In this case the player, Mecole Hardman, downed the ball in the end zone to end up scoring a safety for the kicking team!
I’m going to have to send this one to the lab, to mine plus those of Dr. Goalposts @BetweenTheGoalposts and @pbatty too.
Doctors, what are the prognosis and the diagnosis? Do you concur?
Yes. Indeed. Aye. Uh-hmm.
/Nods
//Incomprehensible muttering
Anyway lab talk and code aside, back to the matter.
There is little exaggeration in the title of this YouTube video.
There’s a bit of build-up for a minute in this video worth viewing for context, but at 1:02 this is a kick I have never seen used deliberately in any code of football.
On a field goal attempt or otherwise, it would appear to be a shank or unplanned.
It’s a great video except on one point made.
I don’t agree at all with the video creator that it is a soccer-type kick as depicted as it is not,
such as a slice with the outside of the foot on a shot on goal,
for I used to be able to do that kick in play and still can on occasion when kicking a soccer ball around like I still do once or twice a week,
though it’s very difficult to be accurate with such a kick on goal and even more so when the ball is on the move towards you from a pass.
If I had to give this kick from the tee by Butker a name, I would call it a “hook-kick” or maybe they can call it a hookick for short or maybe “hoo-hoo kick” or “kick a hoo-hoo”, to heck with it why not!?
At some time years ago I heard about a variation of a rare type of kick in Aussie rules known more generally as a torpedo punt,
for which Wiki for “torpedo punt” won’t help you because the spiral punt that can be called the same in gridiron football,
though not necessarily the same kick in Aussie rules and is now noted as rare in Aussie rules,
in which other types of kicks are used.
Essentially, on a very rare type of torpedo punt the ball spins counterclockwise in a spiral off the right boot (opposite for a left boot) and hooks, which is opposite the clockwise spin such as in the common punt we know in gridiron football that is not “end-over-end.” I know also because I can still kick spirals though not for quite as far any more.
Though I would think it to be extremely difficult to do consistently,
much like a drop kick on goal,
and otherwise from a punt position and not practical in gridiron football,
when you can punt and make the ball spin counterclockwise from the right boot, indeed the ball could hook (inward towards the left sideline) instead of slice (outward towards the right sideline) like on a typical spiral on a directional punt or other punt.
Well I guess it puts the term ‘football’ back in the game of ‘footballl’. 
Just meaning more power to the kickers in ‘football’. 
Hello Paolo,
With my pedestrian eyes, it looks like Harrison is trying to hit the right panel of the ball and sweep across to give it that “bend it like Beckham” look. That is hard to do and difficult to catch. I will have to contact my kicker son to see what he thinks of it who is currently back at his college for Fall football camp. The punter on his team, who is his holder, is an Australian so I will ask him too. Very interesting though.
I honestly do not think that this kickoff rule will last in large part because, as you can see, the advantage will be in the kicker’s hands and we could see that average starting field position drop for offenses, which could mean less scoring. I am certain that the NFL wants no part of that. More to come! I appreciate you reaching out.
Damnit, now you did it!
You got me thinking cross-code on what Butker is actually doing, and I think you figured something out since you mentioned that he is kicking the football on the lower right panel.
What he COULD be doing is instead of, as I was thinking and is the standard for all kicks in gridiron football to kick the ball along the vertical axis (the length of the ball) with the laces on the other side, is that he is kicking the ball slightly via the horizontal axis as if like a soccer ball.
And such is a common soccer kick that one can do, and I do, all the time to make the ball swerve, dip, and curve in towards goal much as you stated to “bend it like Beckham” (which only the elite in the world can do consistently on free kicks).
But what confounds me is in kicking a football like that from very slightly to the right side of the ball, akin to a soccer ball, Butker in kicking the ball on the lower right appears has figured out how to make the gridiron football go both up and to the left (swerve inward if he were kicking at a soccer goal) as opposed to like in soccer down and inward.
Well this is getting fascinating.
Alternatively, I think the only chance the new rules stick in the end are Sean Payton’s recommendation to move the regular touchback to the 35-yard line,
- For not every kicker can do such a kick as Butker and also it’s anything but 100% on every kick AND
- Teams can and will figure out how to return such kicks in time as well AND
- Teams not faring well on kick coverage or up ahead enough to not want to risk a good return will, as Payton and Tomlin have discussed, simply boot the ball through the end zone now for a 30-yard touchback.
Yes! Your tip on fg shanks was the key to my assumption. When a fg kicker truly shanks one they will hit too much of the right panel (if you are a right footed kicker) FG kickers want to get the bone of the foot on the left panel. I actually think after looking at the video more of the kick that he was sweeping on the kick that went left and more of chop to slice it right.
I agree with Payton. My thought was that the way to avoid touchbacks was simply to make it painful for the kicking team to kick the ball out of the back of the endzone. Then again, I like the idea of putting the kick team and the receiving team closer together to avoid the dangerous high speed collisions. Will have to see how this season plays out and then think of alternatives. Good stuff!
About “Tweaks” to the New Kickoff Rules
So in reading the comments of Dawn Aponte, the Chief Administrator of Football Operations of the NFL, oh well, here are the lyrics to the refrain of a song I have yet to write that essentially describe yet another such situation, which might take us to a moment akin to that of the Fail Mary as called by those replacement referees on Monday Night Football in September 2012.
“Much ado about nothinggggg…
ain’t gonna do nothinnn’,
'til the bottom falls out.”
I don’t like it. This is bojack management.
It is a risky live experiment, sort of like those microchipped balls were in the opening game of the CFL season.
Now I hope things work out, but if they don’t, you read it here and I no doubt will pounce upon them.
The Legend of Logan Cooke, Jacksonville Jaguars: Badass Punter
CBS Reporter:
“So Coach Pederson, what do you think about your punt return coverage?”
Logan Cooke, interrupting:
"I’ll take that one, coach.
/Pederson nods
Cooke:
“We don’t have punts returned against us.”
Pederson:
“Next question.”
Is this a punter so good that maybe the NFL will think about changing rules down the road? I hope they never do it!
Check out this video coverage.
No, I never heard of the guy before either! His track record goes back to 2018, drafted out of the 7th round go figure unlike most punters and kickers, and not merely only this game. THIS was a master class, even though in preseason.
Excuse the announcer overdoing it. The performance speaks for itself for anybody watching who knows the kicking game within the game.
The new emergency quarterback rule has been rejected by the NFL Players Association.
https://www.nfl.com/news/nflpa-vetoes-emergency-third-qb-rule-change
The NFLPA nixed a league-approved rule allowing an emergency third QB to come from the practice squad with unlimited call-ups.
This means no more stashing emergency third QBs indefinitely on practice rosters as was the approved change for 2024, where of course they can be easily poached by another team.
Bill Belichick has entered the room to speak with us after the customary 12 seconds of mumbles.
I like this idea too.
“Look, my thing would be, just move the ball back,” Belichick said on “The Pat McAfee Show.” “I mean, this is like golf. You know, the 400-yard par fours are no longer 400-yard par fours or 500-yard par fours. So if they can hit it further, just move the ball back and kick off on the 20 or 25 or put it wherever you want to put it. But if you want kickoff returns, then just move the ball back.”
The ball used to be kicked off at the 30, but the NFL moved it up to the 35-yard-line in 2011 in order to decrease the number of returns for player safety reasons. That led to such a dramatic drop in returns that the league decided to make drastic changes to the kickoff ahead of this season.
I will also now take this side of this bet, as implied by Mike Florio.
And so there’s a chance that the D-word [dynamic] that the NFL uses to describe the new kickoff is less about action on the kick return and more about the dynamic of whether coaches will deliberately choose to bang the ball out of the end zone, like last year.
The reason for the NFL’s nonchalance could be simple. In recent years, the league has tried to engineer fewer kickoff returns, because the best way to make an unsafe play safer is to do it less often. Even if the new formulation of the kickoff is safer, it still entails more risk than a touchback does.
It sounds like engineered failure to me, but it looks more “dynamic.”
I have to wonder if after the novelty effect in September if most of the public will even care any more.
They sold the new formation to all of us as something that will add some 2,000 plays to the season. Now, as they see that pitch probably missing the strike zone, they’re not scrambling to fix it. They’re content to let it happen.
Again:
Fewer kick returns equals enhanced safety.
More points equals more excitement.
Then it’s back to the drawing board by the Competition Committee and the owners by next April to figure out what to do with the new kickoff or to just scrap it.
For those who might not be fans of the Ravens who were or still are crying foul about the penalty flags for illegal formation last night, and grant it the consistency is to be wondering about, this was no sudden development as a point of emphasis by officials along with enforcement of certain other rules that have been abused in recent seasons.
“The formation fouls were reviewed with teams extensively before, during, and after training camps by the officiating department,” Football Zebras reported Thursday. “The bowing of the linemen is an advantage in pass rush situations, and the [NFL’s] Competition Committee said it had to be shut down.”
We are right on track with boundless touchbacks as predicted here in only the second game, with all the games on Sunday perhaps to tell the real story.
Here was an interesting observation during the game:
Yep, that sounds 'bout right.