THE RETURN OF KICKOFF RETURNS
New NFL rule promises more action, better safety
ORLANDO, Fla. — Months before Bears legend Devin Hester will be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame as the NFL’s greatest return man, the league is trying to revive the role. The result is a kickoff that will look different than anything the NFL has done before.
The league Tuesday approved a kickoff rule with the lofty goal of encouraging returns while improving safety. The rule will take effect next season and immediately will separate the NFL from all other levels of football.
The Bears were in favor of the change, which was approved by a 29-3 vote by owners at the NFL’s annual meetings. The league will reevaluate it after one season, but the intent is for the rule to stay.
‘‘We had to do something to make the play safer,’’ Bears chairman George McCaskey said. ‘‘The touchback is the most anticlimactic play in our great game.’’
The new kickoff, a version of which was introduced by the XFL, still will feature a kicker booting the ball from his 35-yard line. The other 10 members of the coverage team, however, will be lined up at the opposing 40. At least nine members of the return team will stand between five and 10 yards away in a ‘‘setup zone,’’ with one or two return men behind them.
No one but the kicker and returners will be allowed to move until the kickoff hits the ground or lands in a player’s arms.
Touchbacks will give the receiving team the ball at the 30. Kickoffs left short of the 20 will be treated as though the ball had been kicked out of bounds, giving the return team possession at the 40.
Surprise onside kicks no longer will exist. Teams can declare an onside kick in advance up to two times in the fourth quarter. They will look the same as they have in recent years — and likely will be just as unsuccessful.
The NFL’s analytics department thinks the new rule will allow teams to start their possessions between the 28- and 29-yard lines; last season, it was the 25. The main benefit of the new structure, however, is safety. Blockers and tacklers no longer will be traveling at high rates of speed.
‘‘I do know that we had to do something to bring that play back,’’ Bears coach Matt Eberflus said. ‘‘It’s going to be really interesting to see how it gets schemed up.’’
Eberflus will have help with that, given that the Bears’ Richard Hightower was among the special-teams coordinators who developed the rule.
The NFL didn’t hold a vote on the rule change Monday, presumably because the owners were split.
‘‘Some people are just uncomfortable with the unknown,’’ Eberflus said. ‘‘They don’t know how the play’s going to come out. Is the ball going to be starting at the 50-yard line every time because of this play? Is there going to be an injury to the kicker? . . . There are just concerns of the unknown.’’
There were 1,970 touchbacks last season, including all 13 kickoffs in the Super Bowl; only 22% of all kickoffs were returned. NFL officials were tired of touchbacks but also wanted to improve a play that has an injury rate double that of one from scrimmage.
Competition committee chairman Rich McKay said the change was the most significant in the NFL since 1998, when the league reintroduced instant replay. He’s prepared for fans to find it unusual.
‘‘It’s going to look like it’s a different play the first couple of weeks,’’ he said. The NFL thinks it’s for the best. ‘‘We’ve taken a play that’s essentially been dying ... and, in our opinion, we’ve revived it,’’ Saints special-teams coordinator Darren Rizzi said. ‘‘We’re bringing this play back.’’