The NFL went through a major change this season.
The new “dynamic” kickoff rule was a booming success according to the league.
The one-year returns have been everything that the league had hoped for when they implemented the changes to the kickoff before the season started.
NFL Executive Vice President Jeff Miller deemed the change a huge success.
“Returns were up 57 percent year over year,” Miller said.
“We saw the starting line advance several yards, we saw more touchdowns, we saw more dynamic kickoffs out past the 40, and we saw a lower injury rate.
“So, all the things we hoped to see with the dynamic kickoff.”
However, the change to the kickoff was only a one-year rule change, meaning it will require at least 24 teams to once again approve the rule for it to return in 2025.
Last year team owners agreed to the change to the tune of a 29-3 ruling in favor of implementing the new rules.
If the league doesn’t get the required amount of votes, then the kickoff will revert back to its traditional look it had in 2023.
The NFL underwent its most radical change in years, in hopes of making the play more exciting and leaving behind the mundane nature that the play had become synonymous with in recent years.
In total, there were seven kickoff returns that went for a touchdown this season.
That is up three from last season’s total of four.
Last year during the regular season there were 2,626 kickoffs.
1,970 resulted in a touchback.
1,970 plays with no action other than watching a ball get kicked out of the end zone or downed for a touchback.
That’s three-quarters of all kickoffs essentially just going through the motions.
No excitement. No buzz. No fun.
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The kickoff had become meaningless and obsolete.
Two words that no multibillion-dollar company ever wants to hear when its product is being discussed.
Yet, that’s what a portion of the game had become.
And there were 1,970 cases of proof and evidence last season alone.
The NFL and league personnel knew they had to do something to bring back the excitement and electricity that the kickoff used to provide.
And so that’s what they did this season.
And are hoping to do, for years to come.
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