The kickoff may soon be a thing of the past in the National Football League.
TIME magazine on Thursday had a story on NFL commissioner Roger Goodell that included his mention of the league considering eliminating the kickoff for player-safety reasons.
Masthay’s role looks to increase if the proposed rule change goes through
Green Bay Packer‘s punter Tim Masthay calls it a “quirky” rule change.
AUDIO: Masthay on possible effect of rule change :22
Before Thursday night’s NFL game, Goodell said he thought the story is interesting and confirmed that the NFL’s competition committee will review the idea.
This possible rule change would be as follows:
After a team would score, they would receive the ball on their own 30 yard line, and it would be 4th down, with 15 yards to go.
Just like a regular 4th down play, the idea is for teams to punt the ball, run a fake punt, or go for it. If the team would not make it, the opposition would take over on downs like normal.
The idea is to minimize player impact on kickoffs and increase player safety. Masthay says punt plays are less physical.
AUDIO: Masthay on punt play physicality :16
“To me it just adds more punt plays…” says Masthay.
AUDIO: Masthay on what this means :16
One thing is certain, the emphasis on punting and having a good punter would immediately become a big factor.