The National Football League has made several changes to its rules regarding kickoffs in recent years to improve player safety. As league officials start to plan ahead for the 2024 season, massive changes could be looming for the NFL kickoff as fans know it.
The NFL announced in 2022 that injury data found a “disproportionate number of concussions” occurring on kickoffs and punts in comparison to normal plays. It backed up research from the National Institute of Health, which found a significantly higher rate (20.6 percent) of a player suffering a concussion on a kickoff as opposed to standard plays.
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As league officials publicly acknowledged the higher risk of injuries on kickoffs, changes were made. Most recently, any kickoff fielded inside the 25-yard line that the returner signaled for a fair catch would give the team possession automatically at the 25-yard line.
The changes have had a drastic impact on the game itself. Through Week 8 of the 2023 season, only 18.9 percent of kickoffs were returned whereas 77.2 percent were a touchback. It represented a massive increase from 2022, when 59.5 percent of kickoffs that traveled into the end zone were a touchback. Now, even further changes could be on the horizon.
According to Mark Maske of The Washington Post, the NFL has spent several months “analyzing” the XFL’s kickoff rules. Once the Super Bowl is over and league officials shift their focus to preparing for the 2024 season, there will be discussions about adopting the XFL kickoff or making further “modifications” to the kickoff as we know it.
What is the XFL kickoff rule? Examining what it could mean for the NFL
The XFL kickoff takes place at the 30-yard line, with 10 members each of the opposition and the kickoff team separated by 5 yards at the opponents’ 5-yard line. By putting the players so close together, the XFL reduced the speed and force behind the collisions, making the play safer but also still allowing for kickoff returns.
In terms of the rule’s effectiveness, 97 percent of kickoffs were returned in the XFL and the explosive returns paired with the design of the kickoff made it extremely popular among football fans. With NFL kickoffs becoming redundant in today’s game and the league now thinking more about player safety, adopting a version of the XFL’s kickoff might be the best way to help address players’ health while still keeping a potentially exciting play in the game.
