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Removing Kickoffs from College Football

The Alabaster Yak

The Alabaster Yak

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Club Member
There have been some preliminary discussions on potentially removing KOs from college football in the name of player safety. These changes wouldn't likely come until after 2017 season, but I think they are definitely coming.

Should college, high school and eventually professional football continue making these kind of changes to the game in an attempt to make it "safer", or should it be left alone entirely with the idea that there is now plenty of information out there on the dangers of playing and players understand the risks involved?

 
It's easy as fans to say we want kickoffs to be part of the game but when you are an athletic department or professional franchise responsible for the liability of injuries I understand them wanting to get rid of them. Kickoffs are awesome but there still aren't too many during the game to have a huge negative impact on the product itself.
 
J.R. Ewing said:
I keep seeing it referred to as a dangerous play, but I'd like to see some actual stats.
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this. please show me the numbers which demonstrates the concussion rate on kickoff plays is statistically significantly higher than offensive plays from scrimmage.

We're proposing to fundamentally change the sport here -- that should not be done without a lot of data that demonstrates why such a change is warranted. and even then, I'm not sure.

My first reaction is to not make the change. Keep the foot in football FFS.
 
My take is that Kickoffs are a more dangerous play than a FG, XP, PR w a fair catch and kneel down. Other than that, I don't believe it is any more dangerous than any other play during a game. I may be able to live w/o a kickoff in football, but this is more about it becoming a slippery slope. Where does changing the game in the name of player safety end? They've put in rules so QBs can't be touched, defenders have to make sure their helmet doesn't touch an offensive player's helmet or they get fined, no cut blocks, they outlawed wedges on KOs, blind side blocks on punts, and moved the KO point up so that virtually every KO ends up deep in the endzone or out of it (at least if you have a K that's any good).

Why can't we just leave it alone and accept the fact that it's a dangerous game and nothing, short of taking off the pads, is going to make it safe?
 
The stats, if someone has them, should be interesting. Logic tells me that multiple full speed opposite direction hits will mean that injuries are higher on kickoffs than on any other play, but then my logic often fails me. When I played I loved kickoff coverage both because of the speed and the violence and that it was an equalizer in the game vs those big meaty handed lineman (Sure they often could crush me on a regular down but I got to mack truck them or make them look like lumbering oafs on a kickoff....Course, my one major lingering issue from football happened on a kickoff)

As a fan, I like kickoffs when there is a return and hate them when there isn't a return. My vote would be to move the kickoff in the college game back to the 25 yard line and the 15 for the pros, increase the violence and the likelyhood of a big return. However, I am sure that will never happen and that someone will eventually find or create stats to support the supposition that it is a more violent play and these stats will force some sort of regulation.
 
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Who was the CU player that died in the last year? As I recall, but could be wrong, it was someone that suffered a spinal cord injury on a kicking play.
 
Perhaps they should just start using a random number generator and an algorithm based on team attributes to determine the outcome of every game. That would eliminate all potentially dangerous plays and injuries. All in the name of safety of course.
 
They could just play on xbox to eliminate the possibility of injury but they stopped producing the game. Thanks Obannon.
 
Would certainly take a lot away from the quality of a game. However, if it is proven to be a major issue in terms of player safety, then you would have to consider it.

More importantly, I think NCAA schools and the NFL have made a fortune off these players. First and foremost, I would like to see them held liable for the care the players require post-playing days. If that were to happen, then any other reforms necessary would come with it. I see no reason any of these teams should be generating the ridiculous profits they are without being held responsible for a key cost of doing business.
 
TSchekler said:
My take is that Kickoffs are a more dangerous play than a FG, XP, PR w a fair catch and kneel down. Other than that, I don't believe it is any more dangerous than any other play during a game. I may be able to live w/o a kickoff in football, but this is more about it becoming a slippery slope. Where does changing the game in the name of player safety end? They've put in rules so QBs can't be touched, defenders have to make sure their helmet doesn't touch an offensive player's helmet or they get fined, no cut blocks, they outlawed wedges on KOs, blind side blocks on punts, and moved the KO point up so that virtually every KO ends up deep in the endzone or out of it (at least if you have a K that's any good).

Why can't we just leave it alone and accept the fact that it's a dangerous game and nothing, short of taking off the pads, is going to make it safe?
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I'm sorry; I will respectfully disagree. On a normal play from scrimmage, there is a limited amount of speed and reaction time that go into how hard a player can contact another player. On kickoff, you have guys that are able to get up a full sprint contacting other guys who are either running at a full sprint the other way or standing still. Basic physics would tell us that these impacts are much more jarring than the collisions on a regular play from scrimmage. As such, I would speculate that the RATE of injuries may be similar, but the SEVERITY of injuries is different.

I did a little bit of web search, and it doesn't appear that either the NFL nor the NCAA produces any reliably comparable data on injuries.
 
Denver_sc said:
I'm sorry; I will respectfully disagree. On a normal play from scrimmage, there is a limited amount of speed and reaction time that go into how hard a player can contact another player. On kickoff, you have guys that are able to get up a full sprint contacting other guys who are either running at a full sprint the other way or standing still. Basic physics would tell us that these impacts are much more jarring than the collisions on a regular play from scrimmage. As such, I would speculate that the RATE of injuries may be similar, but the SEVERITY of injuries is different.

I did a little bit of web search, and it doesn't appear that either the NFL nor the NCAA produces any reliably comparable data on injuries.
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Very good point. I found a study done at the high school level, and it basically points to the severity of injuries as being a problem.
 
Denver_sc said:
I'm sorry; I will respectfully disagree. On a normal play from scrimmage, there is a limited amount of speed and reaction time that go into how hard a player can contact another player. On kickoff, you have guys that are able to get up a full sprint contacting other guys who are either running at a full sprint the other way or standing still. Basic physics would tell us that these impacts are much more jarring than the collisions on a regular play from scrimmage. As such, I would speculate that the RATE of injuries may be similar, but the SEVERITY of injuries is different.

I did a little bit of web search, and it doesn't appear that either the NFL nor the NCAA produces any reliably comparable data on injuries.
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NWD Buff said:
Very good point. I found a study done at the high school level, and it basically points to the severity of injuries as being a problem.
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Good research NWD and fair enough, Denver_sc. I can submit to the fact that KO injuries may be more severe but my feelings on this matter go past Kickoff specifically. I'm fine with moving KOs up to create more Touchbacks and moving Touchbacks to the 25 instead of the 20, but to completely eliminate part of the game seems like going too far.
 
Just eliminate tackling and blocking. Flag football will still be just as entertaining. Amirite?
 
MiamiBuffs said:
Who was the CU player that died in the last year? As I recall, but could be wrong, it was someone that suffered a spinal cord injury on a kicking play.
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Are you thinking of Ed Rheinhart? In pretty sure he was injured in a regular play from scrimmage.
 
I don't think he's thinking of Ed Reinhardt (although I understand Sackman throwing that out there due to the injury Miami described). I haven't seen him in a few months, but as far as I know, he's still alive.

Maybe Ryan Johanningmeier? Although I don't recall his injury history including anything spinal.
 
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So, what are we going to change the name of the game to? Handball is taken. How about "Socker?"
 
The ability to have a turnover in the kickoff needs to be kept; some mechanism to replace the onside kick.
 
Kickoffs are some of the most exciting plays in football. I hate to lose them from the game. I also don't quite get how you could eliminate kickoffs without eliminating the potential for onsides kick plays.
 
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