Goodell wants to eliminate kickoffs

[ServoBillieves]

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap1000000106654/article/roger-goodell-mulling-over-idea-of-eliminating-kickoffs

The man is a complete and utter jackass. He's completely ruining the integrity of the game already, now he's thinking of removing 1/3 of the game? Could you imagine how the Patriots would completely abuse this if it were to come true? If he wasn't feeding millions upon millions of dollars to organizations his stupid ass should have been gone long ago. I won't be football anymore if he gets his way. It will be Goodell ball, and I'll stop watching.

[Mr. Magoo]

Re: Goodell wants to eliminate kickoffs

Its all about safety which is absolute garbage. I agree Goodell is ruining the game.

[jimmifli]

Re: Goodell wants to eliminate kickoffs

Modern athletic training has taken the modern athlete past the point that football can be played safely. They're too big strong and fast. The lifetime accumulation of hits guarantee severe brain damage for most professional football players. Fans won't watch if they know their heroes are being slowly killed. They need at least the illusion of safety.

The concussion problem the NFL faces is big enough to take down the game of football. I'm glad Goodell is trying to address it before he's forced to by lawmakers.

[Joe Fo Sho]

Re: Goodell wants to eliminate kickoffs

Its all about safety which is absolute garbage. I agree Goodell is ruining the game.

This is a quote from Ed Reed.

"All of a sudden, the NFL is starting to get sued for all the stuff they haven't protected over the years, and they haven't done ... now you want to take it out on us?" Reed said, via Sports Illustrated. "Take it out on yourself. It's easy for them to do the things they're doing, fining us and make us look bad, like we're the bad guy, when we're not.


"If they were really so concerned about the violence and the injuries, players getting hurt, answer this question for me: Why is there Thursday Night Football? We played three games in 17 days. Why is there Thursday Night Football? Come on, man."

http://www.usatoday.com/story/gameon/2012/12/03/ravens-ed-reed-nfl-safety-illegal-hits/1744505/

I'm glad a current NFL player is calling Goodell out on his ****.

[Extremebillsfan247]

Re: Goodell wants to eliminate kickoffs

Changing the game too much is dangerous for any sport in terms of popularity. The sport of Boxing suffered for that same reason, it changed too much. It used to be the 2nd most popular sport in America next to Major League Baseball. JMO

[justasportsfan]

Re: Goodell wants to eliminate kickoffs

in the end, tackling will be illegal for players safety and flag football is in.

[ServoBillieves]

Re: Goodell wants to eliminate kickoffs

Modern athletic training has taken the modern athlete past the point that football can be played safely. They're too big strong and fast. The lifetime accumulation of hits guarantee severe brain damage for most professional football players. Fans won't watch if they know their heroes are being slowly killed. They need at least the illusion of safety.

The concussion problem the NFL faces is big enough to take down the game of football. I'm glad Goodell is trying to address it before he's forced to by lawmakers.

Don't want a concussion, don't play the game. Obviously you don't. Did you change Monopoly rules when your cousin was unhappy with what was happening?

Let's put flags on the belts, cry for flags and skip to the endzone. Special team specialists know exactly what they're getting in to. (for the record, my keyboard sucks and apparently I can't get out of italics). If you are a return man, you are no longer receiving a paycheck for what you have been training for for years. Bye Bye Hester, Cribbs, Parrish. The game is no longer the football you know. If you're afraid of a concussion, quit. That simple. Don't want to have the possibility of injury, get a new job ANYWHERE. It's that easy. Good teams would manipulate this abomination of Goodell football to a T, and guess who is the front runner for that? The Patriots.

[Typ0]

Re: Goodell wants to eliminate kickoffs

I'm on board with taking off the pads and playing flag football! I'll still watch...

[jimmifli]

Re: Goodell wants to eliminate kickoffs

Don't want a concussion, don't play the game. Obviously you don't.

The problem is violence loses it's entertainment if you know you are watching people kill themselves. Concussions cause permanent irreversible brain damage.

I love hard fought contact football, I love big hits and tackles, they're fun to watch. But the knowing that players face permanent brain damage, changes that a bit for me and I'd assume most fans. Did you find the Kevin Everett play entertaining? I sure didn't, and I hate watching replays of it. If that type of injury happened on a weekly basis I wouldn't watch football anymore.

Concussions happen on a weekly basis in most games. And now that we know how terrible the damage is, we need to adjust how we play to reduce the risk. Now personally, I don't think this is a good rule change and it wouldn't have much impact on concussions. But I'm glad the conversation is starting.

As for the rest of you post, quit being a ****ing moron. I know it's hard but you can at least try.

[Mouldsie]

Re: Goodell wants to eliminate kickoffs

I kind of like the alternative proposed by Schiano

[coastal]

Re: Goodell wants to eliminate kickoffs

Goodell doesn't give a shot about safety.

its all about protecting the revenue stream.

the Saints fiasco was a witch hunt with Greg Williams offered up as the Lee Oswald.

the recent Brandon Spikes bs was telling.

u have a guy out there promising to hurt people, got flagged for an illegal hit and then a few plays later knocks out one of the super stars of the league.

he got another fine.

[jimmifli]

Re: Goodell wants to eliminate kickoffs

Goodell doesn't give a shot about safety.

its all about protecting the revenue stream.

Of course.

As a fan I'm willing to delude myself, I just need something plausible. I can't watch boxing anymore because all I see is brain damage. But I can still watch MMA, because although the fighters still get KO'd the lack of a standing eight count dramatically reduces the post KO punches. Logical? Not really but it's plausible enough that I can watch for now. In a few years if all the current champs are punchy, I probably won't keep watching.

I really love watching football, but as the evidence mounts it's getting tougher to be a fan. I just need something to latch on to that's plausible and I'm more than happy to contribute my share to the revenue stream.

[BertSquirtgum]

Re: Goodell wants to eliminate kickoffs

Goodell can go jump in front of a car.

[ServoBillieves]

Re: Goodell wants to eliminate kickoffs

Goodell can go jump in front of a car.

I'll gladly drive.

[BillsFever21]

Re: Goodell wants to eliminate kickoffs

This is just completely ******ed. It was bad enough when they basically eliminated the kickoff return game which was exciting and also gave teams who worked harder an advantage by moving the kickoffs to the 35 yard line. Now they are thinking about eliminating the kickoffs altogether? That is just an awful idea. With the way the kickoff rules are now it wouldn't make that much of a difference anyway since there are very few returns anymore.

So what would happen as far as onside kicks go? Would a team still be able to go for them when they are behind or are they done with too since their aren't anymore kickoffs. Even if they're not you're totally giving away any element of surprise and it's almost doomed to fail on the attempt. It's hard enough recovering an onside kick as it is let alone if they know you are doing it for sure which would be the case.

As long as they are going this far you would think punt returns are just as dangerous. If that's the case then they might as well just get rid of kickers altogether and play strictly four down football without any punting with the exception of attempting a FG or extra point.

I guess if that doesn't work for them and they still want kickers they can just have somebody kick the ball and the NFL can have a true "Punt Catcher" position like Chris Watson back in the Wade Phillips days. They can decide if they want to fair catch it or let in bounce and see where it ends up after it's downed.