Replacing the KO

[CrazyCanuck]

I think they should go the other route and get rid of the fair catch on punts. Remember this sicko??

Skins vs Rams no "Fair Catch" against the Skins...

[jdlea]

I keep going back and forth on how I feel about this, but I think my main is concern is this: If we're taking kickoffs out of the game because they're the most dangerous play in the game, how long before we remove the next most dangerous play in the game?

I mean, let's say this actually happens and we replace kickoffs with punts. Then, after a while, the league starts to notice that more guys are being carted off from injuries during punts. Are we then going to eliminate punts and arbitrarily place the ball at the 20? If so, why don't we just do that now, if we're getting rid of the kickoff?

Also, what if this change makes team change their punt return formations? What if, a head coach says, "You know what, having all of my guys on the line for a punt doesn't make much sense, why don't we start dropping them back?...I can still keep a bunch of guys within 10-15 yards of the ball in case of a fake, but I'm not going to try to block their kickoff." Now, we're right back in the same position of guys getting a 10-20 yard head start before collisions start to occur.

Basically, my thinking is, if you're getting rid of kickoffs, you should probably be prepared for punts to also go by the way side. So, I don't think this solution is particularly viable since it will just replace "the most dangerous play in the game" with "the most dangerous play in the game."

The only way I really see this working, from a safety standpoint, is if you start to create rules for punt return formations. If you're going to do that, why not just mandate that a return team must have X number of plays within Y yards of the ball on kickoffs and avoid the big collisions that way?

[jdlea]

The more I think about it, the more I come up with reasons why this shouldn't be adopted.

Let's say I just scored and I just want to try to dominate the ball, so I decide to go for this 4th and 15. I call a pass play and illegal contact/pass interference is called on the play. I now get to keep the ball because of an automatic first down? How does that seem fair? The only way I can get on board with that occurring is if it goes both ways. Let's say I'm going for it and one of my linemen is called for holding, I think the ruling should be: other team's ball at my 20. That's really the only way I see it being fair and even then, with the way the NFL skews their officiating toward the offense, it's not really giving the defense a fair shake, in my opinion.

If this is going to be a rule, you have to come up with a realistic way to deal with automatic first down penalties.