I still like the way they did kickoffs in the XFL:
"The kickoff formation puts the kicking team and the returning team five yards
apart. No one except the kicker and returner can move until the ball is caught
or is on the ground for three seconds, an effort to encourage returns and
discourage touchbacks."
Joe
On Sunday, December 18, 2022 at 08:18:06 PM EST, Phil Brooker
<phil@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Yes, the rule changed when the kickoff touchback starting point was
changed to the 25. Now if the ball goes into the end zone without being
touched it is a touchback unless the returner actively tries to return
it. It was all done to try to encourage more touchbacks and fewer of
the dangerous returns.
Phil
On 12/18/2022 12:49 PM, Joe Dies (oldsrocket455) wrote:
... and not the good kind. I'm talking about kickoffs.
Time was, kickoffs (that didn't get returned) weren't whistled dead
until they went out of the end zone, we're downed IN the end zone, or
were recovered by the opposing team for a TD (a bit of education we
can all thank Barry Foster for).
So now, I'm seeing officials blow a KO dead before the ball even
lands. *If* the receiver even catches it, it's blown dead before he
touches his knee.
Did they change the rules at some point? I'm perplexed.
Joe