The upcoming Alliance of American Football is going to try some new things, making them an interesting trial balloon for potential rules changes for other much larger professional leagues.
Early on, they announced the elimination of the kickoff (teams will simply begin with the ball at their own 25-yard line). They’re also doing away with the onside kick for late-game situations, by giving teams a chance to convert a fourth-and-12 from their own 28-yard line.
According to the league’s website, a scrimmage between two of the teams Sunday featured two attempts of the new concept. The San Diego Fleet (coached by former Rams coach Mike Martz) converted one of the two attempts to keep the ball, and another fell a yard short.
“I hate onside kicks, because of the injury factor,” Martz said. “There’s some hellacious collisions on those things. And I’ve always been a fan of [the conversion concept], I just didn’t want to practice it, you know? Not a fan of [being behind], necessarily. But, fortunately, we got two in the game, [converted] one of them, but it was fun. That part of it was fun. Our guys had a lot of fun with it.”
The NFL’s recent changes to kickoff rules have largely made onside kicks a moot point, but the AAF alternative is something they ought to watch.
“I’ve been watching a lot of football recently, and you look at the percentages of what an on-side kick, what the success rate is, and when it’s not successful, it’s like the most dud play in all of football,” Fleet quarterback Mike Bercovici said. “That 4th-and-12 was awesome. We got one of them and the other we came up just a hair short. How much better is that? To give your quarterback and offensive line an opportunity to get their ball in their hands? You can do tons of different things to catch a defense off-guard on a 4th-and-12. Personally, I love kickers, but sometimes you’d rather have it in your hands.”
It’s admittedly an extreme measure, and the NFL has proven itself to be averse to those, but the upstart league at least provides some evidence of what a change might look like. If player safety wasn’t enough of a reason to do it, the excitement of a high-risk play in your own end of the field will juice up the proceedings.