I haven’t watched the XFL and don’t intend to, but this popped up on Twitter after the first week of play and I have to grudgingly concede they may be on to something with it.
As the announcer noted, if the kickoff doesn’t go past the 20-yard line, the receiving team gets the ball on the 45. Touchbacks go to the 35.
This appears to eliminate grown men running full bore at each other, while not turning kickoffs into a touchback-fest. There’s safety and opportunity. Pretty clever.
Thoughts?
Get The Picture 
I like it. The other improvement they have identified is putting a microphone in the room with the replay officials.
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I really liked the replay officials being miked up as well.
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Watching the XFL games last weekend, I was struck by how the kickoffs were strange at first but provided much more excitement and interest than the college version of “here comes another touchback.” I like it.
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Not a fan. How do you do an onside kick?
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You announce it and line up for it. No surprise onside kicks.
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There is no onside kick. Instead they you get the ball with a 4th and 10 situation. Convert and the ball is yours. Its another really good idea.
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Not a fan
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What do you not like about it (no snark)?
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Always thought onside kick is the most dangerous play in football. Surprised someone hasn’t gotten their neck broken. I like this line up as a way to fix it. Would seem they do need to make some kind of adjustment which would make a multi score comeback possible. Maybe they could let the kicker tee it up at the fifty and if he kicks it through the uprights they get the ball back at the fifty. If he misses the receiving team gets the ball at the fifty. This would add some suspense and excitement… especially if the kicker was the only player on the field.
I have actually thought about this a good bit.
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XFL has no surprise onside kicks. Kicking team tells ref they want to try onside kick, then both teams live up like traditional NFL or college kickoff.
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The surprise onside kick is one of the most exciting plays in football.
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I saw that too. What a great idea!
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I watched some of the games last weekend. A fast pace style that seemed to be geared for a younger audience (I’m 62). I wondered when I saw that kick off if it might get exported to the NFL at some point. Its not a bad option.
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I’m here for it all day long. I like this league as it made up of misfits, of sorts, and it’s dirty and edgy. They are trying out new rules and I think most are good ideas. Choose your point(s) after, ball placement ref, the kick offs, electronic measurements, a lot of times you can see and hear the reviews, which all seem to be good ideas so far. Kind of painful to see Aaron Murray there, but whatevs. While they aren’t perfectly polished, it’s football, I’m supporting it, and it will help me get through part of the dry spell! CA-CAW! CA-CAW!
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Yes, even if someone isn’t interested in the XFL, it’s still worth watching a game just to see the tweeks they’ve made–most of which I think are improvements.
I particularly like the 25 second play clock with an official whose only job is to spot the ball. I also like that the play clock runs continuously until the 2 minute warning, at which point it then stops after every play.
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The traditional, 20 yard extra point (that’s almost never missed or blocked) followed by the traditional touchback is the biggest waste of time that needs to be eliminated.
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Doesn’t that rule eliminate the onside kick?
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No, but it eliminates the surprise onside kick. Teams have to declare an onside attempt so both teams can line up for it.
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Great idea. I think it goes to show that this shit isn’t that complicated.
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No more onside kick
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I like the kickoff. When the rest of football does something like this, I’ll miss the surprise onside kick, but it’s not worth seeing my favorite athletes die at 40 or stumbling around like punch drunk boxers. The original kickoff is one of the most exciting plays in football, but it’s also the most dangerous. Probably time for it to go.
I don’t really see a lot of potential for kickoff returns to the house with the XFL method, but that’s fine. Keeps the guys safer, so I’m for it.
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I like this XFL kick-off solution. It should be implemented in both college and NFL. Today, with the ball placed on the 35 most kickers can send the ball out of the end zone, negating the relevance of the kick-off play.
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From the official XFL rules at
https://www.xfl.com/rules
“If a team wishes to run an onside kick, it must indicate this to the official before the play and the two teams will be permitted to line up using traditional NFL rules (i.e. 10 yards apart from the kicking team). There will be no surprise onside kicks.”
There isn’t an exact definition of what an “onside kick” is, however. I’m wondering, could a team declare their intention to do an onside kick, line up in the traditional NFL way, and then do something (pooch, squib, etc.) somewhat different from the light tap that we normally think of as an onside kick?
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I think so. I’m guessing an onside kick can land anywhere from the 20 yard line out.
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I saw about 5 minutes of XFL play last weekend, but happened to see a kickoff, which immediately struck me as an improvement for both player safety and bringing back the element of a kick return instead of a touchback.
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Naw I don’t like it. If you want to avoid impact injuries and CTE then go play badminton. Playing eight years of brain-bashing football made a man out of me. Everybody needs a bit of limp in their step and stammer in their speech. Shows character. Yankee doodle had a farm eieio. SOMEBODY ANSWER THAT DAMN PHONE!
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Absolutely RR. Kickoffs were the only time us scrubs got to play. The joy of being blindsided while running at full speed by another guy running at full speed has to be experienced to be appreciated.
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I hope you’re not joking Got, because I feel the same way. I wasn’t that big in high school, but I was fast. When I got up to full speed on a kickoff I could put a pretty good pop on someone, especially when they weren’t looking!
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You give and you take, Ghurka. I got my helmet and a shoe knocked off once and to this day I still don’t know who did it. On the flip? You’d better call that catch clearly boy ….
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Good times.
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I woke up under one of the opposing teams cheerleaders spread over my facemask. Thought I’d died and gone to the Playboy Mansion. That was the only one that I was on the receiving end, I was a giver not a taker.
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I was the wedge buster in 7th grade in a league that was 7th-9th grade. Nothing like sending a 100 lb 7th grader into a wedge littered with 190-200lb+ 9th grade lineman a foot taller than you.
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I always look forward to hearing your take Ranger.
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I’ve experienced more concussions than I can or care to remember starting with football in grade school. In junior high we went across the river to play Calhoun Falls on my birthday. It was actually their high school B team we played. Men against adolescents. As cornerback I lowered my head to take on their TE who out weighed me at least 80 lbs. Awoke on the sidelines with my old man looking down at me. “Happy birthday, boy!”,he laughed. What an asshole.
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Sounds like something my old man would say Ranger. “Greatest Generation” my ass! I think I owe my success in life to proving to my old man that I wasn’t the worthless piece of shit he always told me I was. He joined the Army in 1939 “to get something to eat”. Boy was he in for a surprise. I guess we shouldn’t be too hard on them. They grew up in a world where you had to be tough.
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This in spades, Ghurka.
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Oh yeah, Gurkha. Never gon be worth a shit. But you’re correct. They had it rough. I always had good food and a solid roof over my head and he didn’t as he was so fond of reminding me. Later I was grateful for the seasoning he and my coaches instilled in me. First week of Jump School and Ranger School and the instructors are weeding out the weak minded quitters? Not me. That was the same shit I endured starting at 8 years old. I personally thanked those mean old bastards “for the gravel in my gut and the spit in my eye”. I’m eternally grateful I wasn’t Ranger Sue.
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LOL. Seems our old mans were separated at birth. I don’t know what it would take to break me but it hasn’t happened yet. I can thank that mean old bastard for that. I’ve raised my sons differently. My wife wouldn’t have put up with the shit anyway. They have had it pretty easy. They are 21 and 17. They’re good kids so far, we’ll see how they turn out.
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WTF?
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All of us that played into our teens have these stories. Our coach had us running Oklahomas. My turn came up and my opponent who was at least 80 lbs heavier (Went on to play D-line for tech’s 1990 team) cleaned my fucking plow. There was a white light and I came to with the coach standing straddle over me and he says: “Cowdog, you are a pussy.”
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The games were more entertaining than I expected. And the quality of play honestly was better than I remembered from the last iteration of the XFL (or even the AAF). I watched about half of each of the Saturday games, which is probably more than I watched all of the NFL season, except for the playoffs. The games are fast paced – 25 second playclock, no huddling because all the skill players have speakers in their helmets to hear the playcall, so the QB just has to call out the protection to the line. You get to listen in on the coaches as they are calling the plays, what their reactions are when things happen, etc. And I like the strategy that comes into play with their extra point attempts – no PAT kicks, you have to go for it from either the 2 yd line (for 1 point), the 5 (for 2 points), or the 10 (for 3 points). So any given touchdown is potentially worth up to 9 points. Am I gonna follow the league fervently, like a do college football? No, nothing close. But I’d watch it over baseball or NBA any day of the week.
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I would watch grass grow or paint dry over the NBA.
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Drying paint is electrifying compared to MLB.
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Agree
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Watching MLB or the NHL is no different than watching paint dry IMO.
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You know, there’s something to be said for sitting back, cold one in your hand, watching the paint dry on the wall of the shed you covered with a nice coat of Pantone™ PMS 200 C * and Pantone™ PMS Process Black C *
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I love this kickoff concept. It keeps the play relevant while at the same time allowing for the onside kick.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see high schools go to this soon.
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Even the NFL wants to change the kickoff. In the two hand touch game that was the Pro Bowl they altered the onside kick rule. If you want to take a chance you could have the ball at your 30, 4th and 15. If you make it you keep it otherwise the opponent takes over at the spot of the play. I think this rule with slight modification along with the XFL kickoff rule would be great. There were some exciting run backs in the games I watched.
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Still like the excitement of regular kickoffs.
The game is dangerous. Don’t play if you don’t want to get hurt.
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Kickoffs are boring with the touchback now. It’s one of the most exciting plays as well as one of the most dangerous plays. Ask Devon Gales.
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Kick returners like Logan Gray would approve.
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In high school, the hardest I ever got hit was on the kickoff return team. It was my least favorite thing to practice. Our wedge man was undersized but had a lot of spirit which made the games a bit easier depending on our competition.
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I miss real football
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The XFL isn’t bad – I watched some the other day. The skill level is what it is , but I expect that to look better as the season goes along.
It seems like all of the rule changes are common sense — the NFL and NCAA should pay attention
I agree on the kickoff , it solves the problem without creating another
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Why when I was a kid we didn’t even wear pads or helmets. 11 on 11 tackle in the park on sunday mornings and we were just a bunch of midwestern pussies, not like you he men down here.
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That’s what we do when it ain’t football season “down here”. This is SEC country, Boy….
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Sheeeeeet
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Real men don’t eat quiche, right?
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LOL this is better than the “Playpen” reading about all you “real” men.
I’d like to see a change in FG’s. How about different points based on the degree of difficulty – outside the hash mark – distance (kicking teams choice) maybe even move the goalpost making the opening smaller.
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You don’t have any little league football stories?
I started playing Rag-tag when I was 5 and hung it up when I got my learner’s permit. And I sucked at football the whole time I played. But the memories of the time I played are more vivid than most others from my childhood, forgive me the opportunity to share some of them.
FWIW? I didn’t encourage my sons to play. Change the kickoffs to be safer? Hell yeah.
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Yeah when I was in 7th grade (YMCA ball) I had a helmet to helmet collision with a buddy – knocked his ass out and cracked my helmet. I went over to apologize and the coach (Doc & Boomer) screamed at me (I can still hear it) don’t EVER apologize for knocking the shit out of an opponent. Funny how memories from 60 + years ago still seem like last week 🙂
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My point exactly. Sláinte mhaith.
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In 7th grade, I swear to god, we had leather helmets.
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Yeah, but did you have to share?
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Hmm it was 58 years ago and I can’t remember, too many head shots. We did get regular helmets in the pugil pit a few years later.
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The “Pugil Pit” possibly the most fun I had in the service. I was so angry and relentless the D.I.’s would put me in a 2 on 1 and once 3 on 1 scenario. I was not a big guy (6′ 165) but established my position in the don’t fuck with that guy he’s nuts.
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I weighed 6′ 130 and gave it my best but at 17 I was pretty scrawny. We had this weird shit in November 66 where they sent us home half way through basic for Christmas. It didn’t impact me but some of the guys who were struggling ended up recycled because they fell back in terms of the conditioning. Come to think of it we had some pretty intense tackle games during our downtime at Ft Campbell.
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The league at Lejeune was freakin brutal.
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I bet it was. I used to talk to Coach Henderson at the Y. He told me a story of one of his linemen who joined the Corps and, when he came back from boot at PI, told him his camp was tougher than PI. I was telling someone that story in the stands at Sanford and this guy turns around and said “That was me”!!!
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