Time For Touchbacks

Every once in a long while, it is time to think about a major rule change in football for the safety and good of the game. You don't see clothesline tackles anymore. You don't see shots to the head. You don't see horse-collar tackles. Call me crazy or radical or an alarmist, but here is my suggested rule change:

Eliminate the kickoff.

I had this idea as I watched the Texans/Colts game on Sunday. The Texans kicked off and raced down field at top speed to cover the kick. The "wedge-buster" on the team was Cedric Killings. He did his job and then lay motionless on the field in a scene eerily similar to the one in Buffalo involving Kevin Everett, who now looks like he will walk again after initial reports suggested he might not.

There is no part of the game as violent as the kickoff. Defensive players build up 50+ yards of full-sprinting speed in order to crash into either a runner or blocker coming the other way. The collisions are fierce and forceful. There is a reason teams do not put their best defensive players on the kickoff coverage teams - it is dangerous work.

And it is time to get rid of it. The risk/reward for kickoffs does not justify its part in the game. As fans, we take kickoffs for granted and expect the ball to end up somewhere between the 20-30 yard line. For the players, there are furious collisions on both sides to get the ball to this point. There are a few teams who are able to change the game by gaining field position or even touchdowns on these plays, but for the most part teams do not put their best ball-carriers in the position of taking these violent hits. As far as the game itself, the kickoff usually offers little excitement and its implications can outweigh the main component (offense vs. defense) of the game. Let's face it - nobody goes to the games to watch special teams. No kid grows up hoping to be a wedge-buster. It is a tiny part of the game with too big of an impact.

The impact isn't just on the outcome of the game. Each year we learn about more concussions and injuries that come from the game's tremendous speed and violence. Just like the NFL has taken measures to protect quarterbacks, it ought to take measures to protect all its players by eliminating this play. Kevin Everett's paralysis is an isolated case, but there is a reason it happened on a kickoff. It is the most violent play in the game.

Would the game suffer if teams took the ball on the 20 yard line after scores? I do not see how. We want the game to be decided by the offenses and defenses, not by quirky situations with players we don't know like on most kickoffs.

What about punts, you ask? Punting is much safer with fair catches and no player charging the opposite direction other than the man with the ball. There are far fewer violent collisions in the punting game. Overall, punting is also a necessary part of the game as it is a down. Kickoffs are isolated as not really being anyone's ball - there are no fake kickoffs or chance of using the kickoff to try to get a first down.

What about on-side kicks, you ask? The kicking team ought to have the option of choosing to do so. Nothing would change - teams aren't going to risk field position in the middle of the game. It would only be at the end of the game when one team is behind. Yes, those are violent plays too, but they are rare and the build-up of momentum and speed is only 10 yards, not 50.

It is a radical idea, but one that makes sense. There are going to be more Cedric Killings and Kevin Everetts being carted away on stretchers so long as the most violent moment of the game continues to be played out.