The moment is teeming with intrigue, a cavern of bodies parting at the seams as tension rises. The cavalry comes in swarms, each warrior chomping at the bit to make contact with the much-maligned protagonist.
Across the NFL, kickoffs represent a form of structured chaos. And yet their existence in the game looks set to dwindle in the coming few years: In May, the league announced it will place the ball at the 25-yard line in the case of a fair catch. It's a directive that plays massively into offensive hands, making the expanse of green grass outlooking rival offenses that much shorter.
And it seems players and coaches alike aren't too pleased about it. Per the New York Daily News, on-field personnel were vocal in their opposition to the rule change. That didn't stop the NFL from making the switch; executive Jeff Miller cited a reduction in concussions as the reason why the league is making the alteration.
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Here's what you need to know as the league attempts to make crunching collisions on kick returns a thing of the past.
NFL kickoff rules for 2023, explained
The impending rule change comes amid the league's continuing research regarding player safety on kickoffs. The NFL claimed concussions on kick returns — the most dangerous play in football, according to concussion rate — should drop by 15 percent, per its estimates.
The move comes amid a surge in head injuries across the sport. Tua Tagovailoa and Nyheim Hines, for example, were among those players to suffer especially scary concussions over the course of the season.
"At the end of the day health and safety drives this," NFL competition committee member Rich McKay told reporteres. "The concussion rate has trended up in a pretty dramatic fashion."
That hasn't done enough to assuage players and coaches, many of whom have expressed frustration over the decision.
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Take Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, who had this to say about the rule change on his and older brother Jason's podcast, "New Heights:"
“I think this is absolutely stupid,” the younger Kelce said. “I don’t think this is making the game safe, I think it’s making it more boring and taking a lot of excitement out of the game’s opening play. This is whack.”
The NFL kickoff looks more and more likely to go the way of the dodo. Maybe it's for the best, maybe it isn't. Either way, the new directives should prove noticeable to all those watching the game going forward.
