Jump to content

New Alliance of American Football League eliminates kickoffs


Recommended Posts

Teams will get ball at their own 35. For onside kicks they will face a 4th and 10 at their own 35. If they convert they get to keep the ball if not the other team gets it.

 

IMO, a team has much better odds of converting a 4th and 10 than recovering an onside kick...I would like to have seen it be like 4th and 15 or whatever the equivalent conversion rate would be for that distance.

 

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/league-without-kickoffs-nfl-watch-085216538.html

Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 minutes ago, The Drought said:

Seems pretty gimmicky to me. Like an off-season scrimmage. 

NFL is apparently watching closely and the main sticking point for them eliminating kickoffs has been what to do about the onside kick from what the article says...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, Ifartalot said:

The AOAFL ?.....sounds like awful, which it likely will be.

 

AAFL or AAF.

 

I am interested to see a new league and what it will do. Maybe it crashes and burns, maybe it doesn't. I wonder what cities they will be in.

Edited by What a Tuel
Link to comment
Share on other sites

44 minutes ago, matter2003 said:

NFL is apparently watching closely and the main sticking point for them eliminating kickoffs has been what to do about the onside kick from what the article says...

This is why they should never eliminate kickoffs. I already spend my days listening to music that was created well before I was born, now I worry in the near future I’ll only be watching rerun football games from years ago. The possibility for a new era of NFL football is becoming increasingly real. Lets just hope they don’t completely ruin the game. Recent rule changes have already compromised the integrity of the game. 

 

Additionally, what is the real purpose of this new league? Incorporating new rules into the league seems like a decent idea at first glance, but I’m not convinced this is the type of uniqueness that fans crave. The NFL becoming increasingly soft is one of the most frequently heard fan complaints. How much of a demand is there for a second tier league that appears to be even softer? The survival of an additional pro football league depends on their ability to differentiate themselves from the NFL. Eliminating kickoffs appears to be their first attempt at doing so. I don’t see this as the correct way to differentiate themselves. Old school style football is more likely to appeal to die hard  football fans. These are the people who should be the target audience of a new league who wants to challenge the NFL. Casual fans will continue to gravitate solely to the NFL, until a second league can truly establish themselves. 

 

Edited by DriveFor1Outta5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

23 minutes ago, DriveFor1Outta5 said:

This is why they should never eliminate kickoffs. I already spend my days listening to music that was created well before I was born, now I worry in the near future I’ll only be watching rerun football games from years ago. The possibility for a new era of NFL football is becoming increasingly real. Lets just hope they don’t completely ruin the game. Recent rule changes have already compromised the integrity of the game. 

 

Additionally, what is the real purpose of this new league? Incorporating new rules into the league seems like a decent idea at first glance, but I’m not convinced this is the type of uniqueness that fans crave. The NFL becoming increasingly soft is one of the most frequently heard fan complaints. How much of a demand is there for a second tier league that appears to be even softer? The survival of an additional pro football league depends on their ability to differentiate themselves from the NFL. Eliminating kickoffs appears to be their first attempt at doing so. I don’t see this as the correct way to differentiate themselves. Old school style football is more likely to appeal to die hard  football fans. These are the people who should be the target audience of a new league who wants to challenge the NFL. Casual fans will continue to gravitate solely to the NFL, until a second league can truly establish themselves. 

 

 

Yeah, I mean why would the league want to put player safety ahead of drunk guys and casual fantasy football fans wanting to see players get manhandled all game long?  Players increasingly don't want to end up like the guys from the '70s and '80s did---with debilitating injuries, with deteriorating brain functions, with memory loss, with extreme quality of life issues.

 

Pretty sure the real world consequences are more important than drunk guys complaining the game is "soft" as they sit on their couch with their beer bellies hanging over the edge having not set foot in a gym or done any type of exercise other than lift a piece of pizza into their mouths in the last 10 years...pretty sure many of their wives would make the same statement about them being "soft"...

 

It isn't about differentiating themselves, its a player safety issue.  But perhaps they are going to try out proposed NFL rule changes and see how they pan out with the NFL watching...might be smart, NFL might want to use them for testing out rule changes and create a long term partnership with them...

 

Edited by matter2003
Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, matter2003 said:

 

Yeah, I mean why would the league want to put player seafety ahead of drunk guys wanting to see players get manhandled all game long?  Players increasingly don't want to end up like the guys from the '70s and '80s did---with debilitating injuries, with deteriorating brain functions, with memory loss, with extreme quality of life issues.

 

Pretty sure the real world consequences are more important than drunk guys complaining the game is "soft" as they sit on their couch with their beer bellies hanging over the edge having not set foot in a gym or done any type of exercise other than lift a piece of pizza into their mouths in the last 10 years...pretty sure many of their wives would make the same statement about them being "soft"...

 

It isn't about differentiating themselves, its a player safety issue.  But perhaps they are going to try out proposed NFL rule changes and see how they pan out with the NFL watching...might be smart, NFL might want to use them for testing out rule changes and create a long term partnership with them...

 

The NFL will be dangerous until they convert the game to touch football. The quality of the game has declined due to rule changes. Many of these rules have done little to decrease injuries. Injuries will continue to exist as long as tackle football is played. Research involving CTE and football related injuries are ongoing. One can reach whatever conclusion they choose from this research that is only in its infancy. No longer can any player say they were unaware of potential risks associated with playing football. This should eliminate any moral quandary pertaining to football. Modern football players are grown men who are aware of potential/alleged risks. This isn’t about “drunk guys with beer guts” trying to be tough. This is about a game that no longer exists if the rules are changed extensively. Football is a brutal game by its very nature. The game seizes to exist once that nature is taken away. 

Edited by DriveFor1Outta5
  • Like (+1) 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, The Drought said:

Is the onside kick a live play? Can you score or just convert with no advancement. What kind of defense do you play against 65 yards of field?

 

I think they're on to something.

 

If they got rid of kicks all together it would make the 3 and outs which are downers more exciting but the scoring would go up which would probably be bad.

Edited by What a Tuel
Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, matter2003 said:

NFL is apparently watching closely and the main sticking point for them eliminating kickoffs has been what to do about the onside kick from what the article says...

 

I somewhat understand the safety angle of it, but, to me, eliminating kickoffs is eliminating one of the most exciting plays in sports.  The crowd goes nuts before the opening kickoff, especially for college games, and sets a high energy level for the home team.  This has already been reduced by the NFL moving the yard line for kickoff up, resulting in many anticlimactic touchbacks. You could say that players shouldn't need the crowd to get them up for the start of the game but it's human nature that they feed off the energy of the crowd.

  • Like (+1) 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, LittleJoeCartwright said:

 

I somewhat understand the safety angle of it, but, to me, eliminating kickoffs is eliminating one of the most exciting plays in sports.  The crowd goes nuts before the opening kickoff, especially for college games, and sets a high energy level for the home team.  This has already been reduced by the NFL moving the yard line for kickoff up, resulting in many anticlimactic touchbacks. You could say that players shouldn't need the crowd to get them up for the start of the game but it's human nature that they feed off the energy of the crowd.

Agreed. I really don’t like to overreact, but I’m just a traditionalist by nature. I’m not one who adjusts well to change. Eliminating kickoffs would take a portion of the experience away. It’d be difficult to see the game change this much. The only way to ensure safety is by eliminating the sport itself. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, LittleJoeCartwright said:

 

I somewhat understand the safety angle of it, but, to me, eliminating kickoffs is eliminating one of the most exciting plays in sports.  The crowd goes nuts before the opening kickoff, especially for college games, and sets a high energy level for the home team.  This has already been reduced by the NFL moving the yard line for kickoff up, resulting in many anticlimactic touchbacks. You could say that players shouldn't need the crowd to get them up for the start of the game but it's human nature that they feed off the energy of the crowd.

Referring to NFL kickoffs as an exciting play is already in the past tense. Touchbacks are already the norm, the wedge was eliminated and if that wasn't enough they now spot receiving teams the 25 yard line. It's amazing anyone attempts to return kicks as it is. The play is on its last legs in the NFL, existing only because they can't come up with a workaround for the onside kick. They feel it's the most dangerous play in football and have taken just about every step to eliminate returned kicks altogether. At one time though, the kickoff was an exciting play and guys like white shoes Johnson and Mel Gray were in the NFL because of it. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, LittleJoeCartwright said:

 

I somewhat understand the safety angle of it, but, to me, eliminating kickoffs is eliminating one of the most exciting plays in sports.  The crowd goes nuts before the opening kickoff, especially for college games, and sets a high energy level for the home team.  This has already been reduced by the NFL moving the yard line for kickoff up, resulting in many anticlimactic touchbacks. You could say that players shouldn't need the crowd to get them up for the start of the game but it's human nature that they feed off the energy of the crowd.

 

 Could we not keep the kickoff for start of game and start of half and eliminate after Td's and field goals?

  • Like (+1) 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...