President Donald Trump slammed the NFL’s new kickoff rule Monday morning, calling it “sissy football.”
“The NFL has to get rid of that ridiculous looking new Kickoff Rule. How can they make such a big and sweeping change so easily and quickly,” Trump posted to Truth Social. “It’s at least as dangerous as the ‘normal’ kickoff, and looks like hell. The ball is moving, and the players are not, the exact opposite of what football is all about. ‘Sissy’ football is bad for America, and bad for the NFL! Who comes up with these ridiculous ideas? It’s like wanting to ‘roll back’ the golf ball so it doesn’t go (nearly!) as far. Fortunately, college football will remain the same, hopefully forever!!”
The NFL has changed its kickoff rules in recent years in an attempt to aid player safety and avoid the brutal head-on collisions that can lead to shortened careers and debilitating injuries, while also potentially making kickoffs more exciting by creating more favorable situations to return the ball.
The new kickff rule with the players in their respective positions. @NFL/YouTube
The league instituted a new setup last season with the kicker lining up from his team’s 35-yard line but the rest of the coverage unit on the opposing team’s 40-yard line.
They cannot run until the ball hits the ground or a player in the designated landing zone -— from the 20-yard line to the goal line — or the end zone touches the ball.
The receiving team has nine players situated between their 35- and 30-yard line, with at least six at the 35, and then two are in the landing zone.
Kicks that land in that area must be returned.
A player standing the designated zone. @NFL/YouTube
The new rule did not lead to more returns, with a drastic drop from the previous record of 21.8 percent of kicks not being returned to 32.8 percent last year, per NFL.com.
The touchback rate registered at 64.3 percent, according to ESPN.
The positive is that concussions from return plays dipped by 43 percent, per NFL.
Donald Trump with the Eagles earlier this year. AFP via Getty Images
In an attempt to generate more returns, the NFL has moved the touchback from the 30 to the 35-yard line, providing five extra yards.
Teams that returned kicks last season averaged the 28.8-yard line as their starting point, per ESPN, meaning teams only gave their foe 1.2 extra yards for booting the ball out of the end zone.
Now, based on last year’s data, the change would be 6.2 yards.
This is not the first time Trump has railed against the NFL’s kickoff format, doing so on Super Bowl Sunday this February.
“The worst part of the Super Bowl, by far, was watching the Kickoff where, as the ball is sailing through the air, the entire field is frozen, stiff,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Feb. 9. “College Football does not do it, and won’t! Whose idea was it to ruin the Game?”
