New league will go without kickoffs, and NFL will watch closely

Posted by Michael David Smith on April 8, 2018, 4:52 AM EDT
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The NFL seems to be moving toward eliminating kickoffs, and leading the way will be the new Alliance of American Football.

That upstart league, which will begin play in 10 months, will not have any kickoffs. The biggest obstacle to the NFL’s desire to eliminate kickoffs has been figuring out what to do about onside kicks, and the new league will allow teams to try to keep the ball after scoring by running one offensive play, needing 10 yards to get the ball.

“The kickoff is the least popular play, so why do we still have it?” league founder Charlie Ebersol said on CBS. “If you want to go for an onside kick, we give you the ball on your own 35 facing fourth-and-10. If you can convert you get to keep the ball and go. If you don’t, the other team gets the ball.”

The NFL so far hasn’t had anything to say about the Alliance of American Football, but you can bet they’ll be watching how football without kickoffs works. If fans like it and injuries are reduced, which are the two reasons Ebersol cited for changing the longstanding rule, don’t be surprised if the NFL follows suit.

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97 responses to “New league will go without kickoffs, and NFL will watch closely”

  2. “The kickoff is the least popular play, so why do we still have it?” league founder Charlie Ebersol said on CBS. “If you want to go for an onside kick, we give you the ball on your own 35 facing fourth-and-10. If you can convert you get to keep the ball and go. If you don’t, the other team gets the ball.”

    So technically you can prevent a team from ever possessing the ball? STUPID!

  3. Oh good, another opportunity for the Make Football Great Again crowd to tell us how much better it used to be when players were basically indentured servants who treated concussions by “walking it off”

  5. “The kickoff is the least popular play, so why do we still have it?” league founder Charlie Ebersol said on CBS. “If you want to go for an onside kick, we give you the ball on your own 35 facing fourth-and-10. If you can convert you get to keep the ball and go. If you don’t, the other team gets the ball.”

    So technically you can prevent a team from ever possessing the ball? STUPID!

    ———————————————

    assuming you can convert the 4th and 10. Otherwise the turnover gives the opposing team great field position at the 35 going in.

  6. What happens if the team that scores doesn’t attempt this?? Does the other team just get the ball at their own 35? This is relevant enough to the point of this story that it should’ve been included in it. If they do get it at their 35, then going for the “onside” might be fruitful enough to try it maybe a third of the time.

  7. 4th and 10 is a bit easier than recovering an onside kick, especially with an elite quarterback.

    They are better off keeping the onside kick as an option.

  8. generatorx says:
    So technically you can prevent a team from ever possessing the ball? STUPID!
    ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++====

    Actually, its EXACTLY the same opportunity if you keep making onside kicks.. If they keep tryin g/making onside kicks, then ALSO you keep possession…
    …NOTHING changes.

  9. Generator-ex, onside kicks usually come near the end of the game with the onside kicking team behind. Who would go for 4th & 10 knowing if they fail the other team has the ball inside the 45 on your side of the field? Certainly not every time they score. THAT would be stupid.

  11. Glad Dom Capers is gone. If he was still around the Packers offense would never see the field. Soft zone coverage, send all DBs back 15 yards. Make the tackle after an easy 12 yard pickup.

  12. I actually like the idea of one play to get the ball back but I think 10 yards is too short.

    Great thing about onside kick is that its hard to get the ball back. So instead of 10 yards make it either 25 or 30 yards, any penalties on offense they forfeit their chance. If they are successful they get the ball back at the opponent 40 yard line and if they fail the opponent gets the ball at the 40. I like the kick off…but I think this could be a fine and fair substitute. I do hate we would lose the kickoff, and it will suck that there would be no more surprise onside kicks. I do think it could be a fun substitute. Whatever the 1 play is though it would have to be hard enough to do that the risk is too great for a coach to do it after every TD.

  14. First off ,no one will be watching the new league and second,, if kick offs are done away with no one will be watching the NFL !

  15. Need to find a play or situation in which the percentage is success is about what an onside kick is. If it’s 15% then what substitute play is about 15%. I think 4th and 10 is far too easy.

    Personally I’d eliminate the kickoff unless the team wants to possess the ball. Then make them onside kick. Kinda like the intentional walk in baseball, if you want to send the runner to first, just do it.

  16. People may watch it for a little while. Then realize the quality of play isnt what they expected, and that they have no vested interest or tie in like with their current team. It may last a few years, then it will fold.

  17. Why would the NFL compare their own rules to a minor league’s? Have they adopted any CFL or Arena football rules? Leave the kickoff alone.

  18. Team A is up 4 Points after scoring a late TD with only 5 seconds left. They choose to use the new onside rule and retain the ball. They hike the ball and run around for 5 seconds till the clock runs out. Team B never gets a shot at a score.

  23. The kickoff isn’t unpopular, the commercials surrounding it are.

    Ebirsol’s plan for allowing a team one shot at gaining 10 yards to retain possession is ridiculous. Teams are successful converting 3rd / 4th and 10’s around 35% of the time. Onsides kicks work about 20% of the time when expected so this plan makes it significantly easier for the them that just scored to retain possession.

  26. That is similar to Coca Cola making itself taste a lot like Pepsi Cola many years ago. The fans cried foul and they had to bring back Classic Coke. If the NFL gets rid of the kickoff, the TV ratings may drop and they will blame it on something else, just like they blame lower TV ratings on players protesting during the anthem.

  28. The problem with all these people who want to constantly change the NFL’s rules is they don’t realize they are ruining the game that fans have loved for years.
    I suggested if you want to make kick-offs safer and more exciting, put 6 men on the field for each side and kick the ball off. It would lessen the chance for injury because there would be 10 fewer men on the field and it would make it more exciting because the return man would have a much more open field to run through. And it would force the special teams coaches to put speedy guys on the field rather than huge guys.
    I wish they’d try my suggestion and keep the kickoffs in the game.

  29. generatorx says:
    April 8, 2018 at 5:10 am
    “The kickoff is the least popular play, so why do we still have it?” league founder Charlie Ebersol said on CBS. “If you want to go for an onside kick, we give you the ball on your own 35 facing fourth-and-10. If you can convert you get to keep the ball and go. If you don’t, the other team gets the ball.”

    So technically you can prevent a team from ever possessing the ball? STUPID!

    ————-

    If a team’s defense is THAT bad then perhaps they don’t deserve a chance to ever possess the ball. Also, if it’s THAT bad, then what do you think the odds are that they’d win the game unless the other team’s D is equally bad or worse. Eventually sheer odds dictate that they’d get at least one possession. Bad throw, dropped pass, etc. Even the best offenses aren’t anywhere near perfect.

  30. I hardly know where to begin with this foolishness. Kickoffs are unpopular??? Says who? Some jackass in a marketing office somewhere? Kickoffs are, and always have been, a signature and integral part of the game. You want to be in your seat for the opening kickoff. It builds excitement and gives people a specific moment to point toward in terms of how the game is played. And eliminating onside kicks takes out an element of potential surprise. Also, kicking off provides an opportunity for a long runback, which can sometimes turn a game around. Eliminating kickoffs is ridiculous–that is, if you actually want to maintain fan interest. Pro football seems like it’s trying to become soccer with pads and helmets, and that’s a very depressing thought. If I wanted to watch shootouts, I wouldn’t be watching pro football. (And, by the way, bring back sudden death overtime. That was the most exciting and nail-biting thing in all of sports.)

  31. I disagree that the kick off is the most unpopular play. I think it’s one of the most unpopular plays in the eyes of league liability & workmens comp lawyers, but not amongst the fans. It’d be better if it was still a play that was played, but now it’s mostly done with the intention of getting a touchback, which makes it less interesting

  32. The offense should get to keep they ball after scoring a touchdown and it be 1st and 10 from their own 35 again. The other team should never get the ball back until their defense stops them.

    The idea of handing the ball over to the other team after they score a TD is ridiculous. Football is war, you want to stop me from scoring touchdowns over and over again… then your defense better stop me.

  33. Currently, in the NFL you must warn the other team if you are going for two after a td by declaring your intent before the play. With this rule, you must now declare your intent on kickoffs before the play. What is next, declaring it is a run or pass before the play?
    This appears, to me, to be simply an attempt to take the intrigue and strategy out of the game. This will make it easier for the lousy coaches to cover up their failures. Everyone can get a trophy that way.

  34. The concept is fine if you want to reduce injuries but you need a distance to gain that has the same probability of success as on-side kicks have had. Modern NFL offenses won’t gain 10+ yards everytime but I know it’s going to be a lot easier than the kicks were. You’ll see an even heavier emphasis on offensive talent as well when this type of thing happens in the NFL if they don’t make the yardage match the success rate of on-side kicks.

  35. generatorx says:
    April 8, 2018 at 5:10 am
    “The kickoff is the least popular play, so why do we still have it?” league founder Charlie Ebersol said on CBS. “If you want to go for an onside kick, we give you the ball on your own 35 facing fourth-and-10. If you can convert you get to keep the ball and go. If you don’t, the other team gets the ball.”

    So technically you can prevent a team from ever possessing the ball? STUPID!

    —————————-
    Well technically you always had that ability. But I agree that changing the means by which you get it to a more standard type play changes the odds. If you have the opposing defense gassed so that you are driving at will (ie NE vs ATL in the SB) then what the heck?

    If you no longer need to use roster slots for special teams players thats a huge difference right there.

  37. Also now that PI is easier to draw it becomes a factor in these plays. And if there is defensive holding (that means auto first doen notmally) is that automatic possession? What if the offensive team commits a 10 yard penalty. Or gets pulled offsides twice. What if the offense gets a penaty does it go back to the 30 or 25 for now one play to get 15-20 yds? And if so are they now locked in to the choice or can they now opt to give the other team the ball at their end?

  38. I wonder what the comparison of % of onside kicks recovered versus % of 4th/10 conversions is?

    At least the new league trying it might give a glimpse into the pros and cons of getting rid of the kick off (even though I don’t agree that it’s the “least popular” play and would prefer to keep it in the NFL).

  39. 4th and 10 isn’t as hard to convert as an onside kick. Even 4th and 20 isn’t as hard to convert because the rules are so tilted in the offense’s favor. On a 4th and whatever the offense can get a first down by (a) picking up the yardage or (b) penalties to include: Face mask, Helmet-to-helmet, defensive holding, horse-collar tackle, illegal contact, hands to the face, illegal use of hands, pass interference, personal foul, roughing the passer, spearing, targeting, tripping, and unsportsmanlike conduct. That is FIFTEEN different ways an offense can get a 1st down and keep the ball, FOURTEEN of which come by penalty. I can think of ONE and only one way the kicking team keeps the ball on an onside kick–recover the ball.

    With this type of change we will see games in which one team is down by 21 or 28 before it even manages to get a single offensive snap. Fans are already unhappy with how much of an impact the refs have on the game and this change will give them far more influence than they already have.

  40. It seems to me that converting a fourth and 10 is easier than recovering an onside kick. Maybe 4th and 15 is better. But then if the defense gets called for pass interference, maybe it’s actually easier. Should be interesting to see how this plays out, and I’m glad they’re conducting this experiment in the new league, not the NFL. I do agree that the kickoff is no big deal. I would probably completely do away with kicking if I had my choice. I hate to see football games decided by missed extra points. I see fans wearing a lot of jerseys, but I don’t remember seeing a lot of fans wearing kicker’s jerseys.

  41. Man the NFL is lucky they dont have that rule with Carson Wentz on a team coached by Doug Pederson. Pederson would always go for it n we saw what Carson does on the long money downs.

  43. To be serious tho if this rule was in the NFL there would be teams who spent all their money on offense. They would stock up on superstars at every position, figuring giving up a short field is worth it if we can keep them off the field 50% of the time. Thats a 2 to 1 scoring chance.

    I mean say u convert that means u start at the 45 at least. Thats only 20 yards back from where they would start. U would figure u would score a lot more if u got twice as many chances from only 20 yards deeper and had a offense full of superstars.

  44. It kickoffs are to be eliminated because they are the least popular play, that makes another play the least popular play, so in five years do you get rid of that play too? Stupid.

    With this mess, we never would have had the ‘Music City Miracle’ or watched Devin Hester set records or had amazing 107 yard returns. Hey, the officials aren’t popular, let’s get rid of them.

  45. Don’t include me in that poll because I love kick offs. Take it to the kick off returns or the big hits on kick offs. The suits imo are changing the game too much. If injuries are a concern…for those concerned I understand … do something more to what you like. Maybe distance walking or backgammon.

  47. northlandwi says:
    April 8, 2018 at 7:12 am
    Need to find a play or situation in which the percentage is success is about what an onside kick is. If it’s 15% then what substitute play is about 15%. I think 4th and 10 is far too easy.

    —-

    Serious question…do you watch football? If 1 play to hit 10 yards was that easy, then 4 chances to get there would be impossible to miss, using that reasoning. As such we would never have punts, never have turnovers on downs, and never have anything but TDs. The game would come down to who scored faster, not more.

    4th and 10 (or its equivalent) is a very low percentage opportunity. It probably approximates the onside very well.

  48. Some actual data, for those who wish to know: since 2010, there have been 266 plays in which a team “went for it” on precisely 4th and 10. The success rate of those plays was about 30%. Meanwhile, the conversion rate for an EXPECTED onside kick (i.e. removing surprise onside kicks) is about 20%. Meanwhile, this is probably a biased sampling – typically slightly worse teams probably are forced to go for it on 4th and 10, because more often they will be in a position to have to try to convert, so the success rate of all teams is probably a bit higher. And, of course, the success rate of such plays is HEAVILY dependent on the quality of an offense, whereas I would imagine that onside kick success is fairly random (which is why it is a fair way to do it). I don’t think the NFL should want to allow certain teams to have a real chance of conversion at around 40%, which is probably what it would be for top passing offenses.

  50. why does the NFL feel a need to change the rules year after year? How about the owners establish a 10 year moratorium on rule changes?

  51. I believe I read that a team in the new league can only opt for the ball on their own 35 yard line after a score if they are behind. If they are winning, then they wouldn’t be able to do this. That kind of makes sense. I’m assuming all the other times after a team scores, the opposing team gets the ball at their own 20 or 25. I’m not sure I like the rule, but it will be interesting to see how it works in the new league.

  52. Mathew Keen says:
    April 8, 2018 at 9:18 am
    To be serious tho if this rule was in the NFL there would be teams who spent all their money on offense. They would stock up on superstars at every position, figuring giving up a short field is worth it if we can keep them off the field 50% of the time. Thats a 2 to 1 scoring chance.
    I mean say u convert that means u start at the 45 at least. Thats only 20 yards back from where they would start. U would figure u would score a lot more if u got twice as many chances from only 20 yards deeper and had a offense full of superstars.

    **********************************************
    Interesting theory, but I’d say it would be more likely that you would lose a lot of games with scores like 60-70. The other team would also score every time they touched the ball if you had no defense. Some fans would like that. Others wouldn’t. The NFL is printing money, so whatever they’re doing is working, despite all the negative publicity. Look at us. It’s Sunday morning, the final day of The Master’s, and we’re thinking about the NFL.

  54. Football fans like the kickoff. It’s evident from the comments on so many of these articles. It is one of the single most exciting plays in football. It provides as much miracle moment as any play in the game. It needs to stay (keep brainstorming on tweeks, not removal). Plus, the surprise element on any kickoff is part of its uniqueness. Lastly, a 10 yard play is significantly easier (for a good offense) than converting an onside kick. Removing the kickoff would remove one of the most exciting plays of the game & eliminate an aspect built around hope & surprise.

  55. aj66shanghai says:
    April 8, 2018 at 5:20 am

    Oh good, another opportunity for the Make Football Great Again crowd to tell us how much better it used to be when players were basically indentured servants who treated concussions by “walking it off”

    You come off as if people are supposed to feel sorry for NFL players today for what might happen to them after the checks have stopped rolling in, but yet no one writes articles or makes movies about the men/women who go to work everyday facing dangers, just to make a life for them & their family?

    I watched Clinton Portis play his entire career for big pay days while the concussion issue was prevalent. He wanted to play and make money. Then when his career was over. Bam. Joined the lawsuit about concussions and now he is worried about his future health.

    The one thing that gets me is auto racing. People are dying doing that & we accept it as a natural risk of going around a track @ 200 MPH. No lawsuits when a driver crashes and dies. However, the NFL gets sued over concussions and brain damage is not considered a natural risk of running into a brick wall with your head time & time again to play the sport.

  57. Johnny Nix says:
    April 8, 2018 at 7:29 am
    Team A is up 4 Points after scoring a late TD with only 5 seconds left. They choose to use the new onside rule and retain the ball. They hike the ball and run around for 5 seconds till the clock runs out. Team B never gets a shot at a score.

    Johnny … I suspect the clock would not run, just as a current extra point is an untimed play. Good point, tho.

  58. This has nothing to do with player safety and everything to do with reducing the parity gap.

    The better teams all have good special teams and good returners. The bad teams often have very bad special teams and returners. By eliminating kickoffs the league will make it easier for the bottom feeding teams to compete and seem good when they are still the poorly run, bad teams that they are.

    The who player safety thing is nothing but a smokescreen.

  59. If a team is winning, converting 4th and 10 will become much easier as the game goes on due to the other defense getting tired…and what will happen with spot foul PI calls 40 yds down the field on these ‘non kickoff kickoffs’?

  60. IF the kickoff is actually unpopular, I’m sure it has to do with it getting sandwiched by tons of commercials. The NFL’s timing with commercials makes the aftermath of a score into the most tiresome part of the game – is that really want they want, to punish viewers for the thing happening that is the whole point of the game?

    Also contributing is the new kick placement that makes 90% of kickoffs end up as touchbacks.

    The kickoff, along with the long-bomb pass, is the most interesting play from a visual standpoint. It visually “resets” the game between scores and holds the potential for perhaps the most exciting of all plays, the kickoff return for a TD.

    Is there really increased incidence of injury on kickoffs? I’ve watched the game for decades and that doesn’t jibe. If the reason to change it is anything except a genuine track record of serious injury, then as a football fan, I don’t agree.

  61. The kickoff became the least popular play when the NFL turned it into the old extra point by moving it up five yards so any kicker with half a leg can induce a touchback at will

  62. Soccer is a despised sport by millions – it is boring and it has stupid ways of ending games – but despite being loathed and the sport generally a total borefest (and I played it as a youth), we still have it on tv.

    So let’s not based changing a sport based on least liked.

    If we were to change the least liked part of the NFL right now it would be the unamerican, black racists who have stolen our national anthem for their own exploitation.

  63. Even if you eliminate kickoffs, why do you have to eliminate the onside kick? There aren’t nearly the collisions on an onside kick that there are on a normal kickoff. I’m a die hard, life long NFL fan…but if they ever invoke this “onside throw” rule…I’ll find a new sport.

  64. The kickoff return can be an exciting play. The commercial, kickoff/touchback, commercial is unpopular. Work on that, NFL. Where is the evidence it is unpopular or more injuries occur? Provide the data on injuries and polls on popularity.

  67. “The kickoff is the least popular play…” Says whom? When a kick return actually occurs, it has the potential to be the most exciting play in the game and the most talked about play for the next week. When the NFL eliminates kickoffs, that’s when I eliminate the NFL from what I watch.

  68. ten yards does seem a bit short. All you would really have to do is take all 3rd down plays over the last few years and separate them by “yards to go”. compute the percentage of success for each distance (3rd&1 = 68%…3rd&15 = 8% and so on) and find the distance which percentage matches that of the success percentage of onside kicks over that same time. That should be the proposed distance of this new “do or die” play.

  70. This would be used strategically by high powered offenses just to keep the opposing defense on the field longer. They will not be using it after every score, but I can see teams doing this after long possessions that end in a score. Add a couple of these back to back possessions into a game and that can really wear out a defense, and a tired defense could lead to more injuries. Even if you fail on a few, the opposing offense will not be on the field long, giving their defense less time to rest. I would use this a couple times a game if I could just to fatigue my opponents.

  72. One of the issues created by this change in the NFL would be what it does to the 53 man roster makeup. How many players make the squad not because of what they can bring as the 4th string safety or 5th WR, but because they play special teams?

    How many non-starting caliber LBs, Safeties, WRs, etc. piece together decent careers because of Special Teams play? If suddenly those roles aren’t as significant, will teams just sign low cost RFAs to take all those spots (and in turn, won’t those guys just be cut after a year or two and their base salaries start to creep up)?

    Guys like Steve Tasker, Matthew Slater, Larry Izzo, etc. probably woudn’t have lasted long without special teams being a major component of each team’s roster.

  74. But what if a team lines up and thrn goes into punt formation and downs it at the other teams 5…….hey, did they just do that??? We now have the puntoff.

  75. generatorx says:
    April 8, 2018 at 5:10 am
    “The kickoff is the least popular play, so why do we still have it?” league founder Charlie Ebersol said on CBS. “If you want to go for an onside kick, we give you the ball on your own 35 facing fourth-and-10. If you can convert you get to keep the ball and go. If you don’t, the other team gets the ball.”

    So technically you can prevent a team from ever possessing the ball? STUPID!

    ——————

    Good point. But my caveat would be that you can’t attempt that play if you’re up by 17 or more points.

  76. Another moronic idea designed to ruin the game of football. Kickoff returns are a signature of this sport; quit messing with the game!

  77. Watch a few games, what’s the big deal. Maybe you’ll like it, maybe you won’t. The NFL is ruining itself, so what the heck. You may surprise yourself with the XFL.

  79. whodat5150 says:
    April 8, 2018 at 2:00 pm
    generatorx says:
    April 8, 2018 at 5:10 am
    “The kickoff is the least popular play, so why do we still have it?” league founder Charlie Ebersol said on CBS. “If you want to go for an onside kick, we give you the ball on your own 35 facing fourth-and-10. If you can convert you get to keep the ball and go. If you don’t, the other team gets the ball.”

    So technically you can prevent a team from ever possessing the ball? STUPID!

    ——————

    Good point. But my caveat would be that you can’t attempt that play if you’re up by 17 or more points.

    ———-

    Why 17 points? Yet another arbitrary decision?

    How about we leave the game alone

  80. I’m excited to see another professional football league. I quit watch football on sundays when the NFL caught that Colin disease.

    When those 32 billionaire owners decided to allow that disease to matastisize into the entire league I started watching football on saturdays and playing golf on sundays.

    I’m going to give them a look see and I hope they take lots of market share away from the NFL to put those owners in their place.

  81. Won’t be watching any of this lame league after reading this article. If the NFL follows suit that will certainly free up my Sunday’s to do other things. That would be the end of the sport as far as I’m concerned

  82. elmerbrownelmerbrown says:
    April 8, 2018 at 7:10 am
    First off ,no one will be watching the new league and second,, if kick offs are done away with no one will be watching the NFL !
    ———–
    So, does that mean you think the only reason anyone is watching the NFL is for the kickoffs?

  83. So, what are they going to just skip 4-5 commercial breaks from every game then? Doubtful.
    Come back to players going over the play standing around on the sideline instead of the kickoff and then go back to a commercial??? Or just have a 6 minute commercial break????

  84. If they HAVE to get rid of the kickoff, why don’t they just make a down 0 from the 15 and the defense has to be 10 yards off the line of scrimmage for 1 play? Let the offense run a play. First down from where ever they get.

  85. Sure 4th and ten from your own 35. I’m sure no pass interference or defensive holding calls will come into play. Automatic….First down! Great tool if an official wants to have a big impact on the outcome.

  86. Instead of onside kicks, they could just line up the opposing team’s general manager at the 50 yard line, with his arms hanging straight down in a relaxed, non-knee bent, stance.

    Then the kicker would get to throw the ball from ten yards away, at any part of the GMs body.

    If the GM can catch the ball before it hits the ground, the receiving team takes possession where their general manager finally secures the throw, making at least one-half of a football move in the process.

    If the ball should glance off a groin, head, shoulder or any other part of the opposing team’s general manager, the throwing team takes possession wherever the ball finally stops rolling.

    I bet this would solve 99.99% of the complaints about the current kickoff boredom.

  87. If kickoffs are eliminated, there are going to be a lot of guys who will be denied opportunities to shine and make teams. Look at Terrell Davis, Super Bowl winner and now Hall of Famer. One hit on kickoff coverage got him noticed. And how many good WRs made teams because of special teams and kickoff returns, only to prove themselves as too valuable for those later on?

    And the 4th and 10 instead of onside kick is brutally dumb.

  88. .
    The kickoff…
    The ball soars through the air and is caught, the player takes off, avoids a tackle, and another,
    the crowd stands! he avoids another tackle, the crowd ROARS, he streaks towards the endzone, the crowd gets louder everyone is standing, he SCORES! the stadium ERUPTS in excitement…

    Yes let’s eliminate stuff that causes such agony in the stadiums and at home.

    This is the NFL today, making the game boring putting $$$$ first.

  90. jimmyjohns01 says:
    April 8, 2018 at 8:48 pm
    The least popular play is a gimme extra point.

    ———

    And yet it is no longer a gimmie…

  91. For a developmental league this is not a terrible idea, if the idea is safety and getting guys noticed by the NFL.

    However, the statement “the kickoff is the least popular play” is just nonsense. Where is the data there? The guy is just blowing smoke.

  94. Ultraviolet Thunder says:
    April 8, 2018 at 11:28 am
    Soccer is a despised sport by millions – it is boring and it has stupid ways of ending games – but despite being loathed and the sport generally a total borefest (and I played it as a youth), we still have it on tv.
    –
    Despised by millions who think the world starts & ends with NY & LA. There’a a whole big world out there that loves soccer and they don’t spend nearly as much time tweaking the rules in that game. It can be boring for those whose attention span is limited. The real reason many Americans don’t like soccer, lack of role models. No obese players.

  95. Ultraviolet Thunder says:
    The real reason many Americans don’t like soccer, lack of role models. No obese players.

    — Yeah, That’s exactly why I don’t like soccer. (eye roll)

  96. Soccer is a despised sport by millions – it is boring and it has stupid ways of ending games – but despite being loathed and the sport generally a total borefest (and I played it as a youth), we still have it on tv.
    –
    Despised by millions who think the world starts & ends with NY & LA. There’a a whole big world out there that loves soccer and they don’t spend nearly as much time tweaking the rules in that game. It can be boring for those whose attention span is limited. The real reason many Americans don’t like soccer, lack of role models. No obese players.

    Soccer is popular because you can bet on it (sometimes right at, or next to, the stadium). And that’s it.

  97. 4th and 10 makes it too easy. Go with 4th and 15 instead – but in any event, the NFL can wait and see what the success rate is on 4th and 10 before making their own decision as to what to do.

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