Add Adami Vinatieri to the list of kickers who don’t want anyone tinkering with the extra point.
Vinatieri told USA Today that proposals to make extra point kicks longer, or harder, or to encourage teams to go for two or eliminate the one-point kick entirely, are all about taking kickers out of the game.
“This just seems like a proposal by a couple of people trying to pound their chest a little saying, ‘Let’s change it up because kickers are too good,’” Vinatieri said. “They’re trying to downgrade our value versus continuing to put an emphasis on kicking. They’re trying to minimize the importance of kickers. I’m a traditionalist. If it’s not broke, don’t fix it.”
Vinatieri particularly dislikes the idea of moving the spot of the extra point play from the 2-yard line to the 25-yard line.
“I don’t understand the logic: Will it make the game safer for people by moving the extra point back to a 43-yarder? If anything, players are going to rush harder because they’re thinking, ‘That far of a field goal-type try, we have to go after blocking it more,’” Vinatieri said. “If you want to talk about potential risk, more guys get injured on a field goal than extra point. It definitely will change the game. For the better? I’m not sure.”
Making extra points harder might actually make kickers more valuable, as teams would be willing to pay more for kickers who reliably connect from 43 yards. But the NFL’s kickers want to keep the extra point the way it is.