The NFL Just Made Two Huge Rule Changes That Might Not Sit Well With Fans
Updated: Jun 13, 2023
The NFL will have some changes coming and the first one has to do with the kickoff. Everyone knows the kickoff is one of the most dangerous plays in the sport and now you can fair catch the ball anywhere inside the 25-yard line and get the ball at the 25.
This rule will be very familiar to some since it was put into college football almost five seasons ago.
How To Feel About The New Rule
The kickoff for many years was the most exciting play in football because you never knew what could happen. Some of the best plays in the NFL season were kickoff returns for touchdowns and now those seem to be coming to an end.
This is all for player safety, which is great, but at the same time when are we going to stop making rules that take the hitting and what football was all about out of the game?
There’s nothing like that opening kickoff when your team kicks off and runs down the field, and they make a huge hit to set the tone for the afternoon.
A lot of players who were used just for special teams like returners and people who made an impact on the kickoff team and got down the field to make a tackle for a great field position could be out of a job soon. I’m sure many players love the rule they don’t have to get hit on kickoff but many of the fans aren’t thrilled.
Thursday Night Football
Another rule that came down was flexing Thursday Night Football. Between Weeks 13 to 17, the NFL is allowed to flex Thursday Night games which means moving a game that was scheduled for Thursday Night Football off that slot and replacing it with a game that was supposed to be played on another day like Sunday.
The league must notify teams 28 days in advance that they will be flexed to Thursday and no more than two games can be flexed to Thursday Night in the season.
Many players hate playing on Thursday Night once a season when the game was scheduled five months in advance but now, they are really going to hate it when they might have to play more than one Thursday game.
I have to say I love this rule. How many times do we get late into the season, and we have two scrub teams playing each other on Thursday and nobody wants to watch?
The Thursday Night football schedule was a joke last season and Amazon is paying the NFL billions of dollars to broadcast these games. Amazon is going to want a great product and last season was not the case. The players are going to hate this rule, but the fans should fall in love with it. All I want is good games and this gets more of them.
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