As soon as the NFL announced that it had approved a new rule change for 2023 that would enable kickoff returners to call for a fair catch and allow the offense to start with the ball at the 25-yard line, the football world had plenty of strong reactions. Now, the world’s premier football league is catching flak from one of its competitors: the USFL.
The nascent league, which is currently in the second season of its current iteration, posted a strong response defending the traditional kickoff, which it views as a path to the NFL for many players. The NFL’s new rule is similar to the kickoff rule in college football.
USFL is proud to keep “special” in special teams with traditional kickoffs that maintain player safety. Many USFL players see a @NFL path through ST play. @USFL innovative rules provide opportunity for players to deliver exciting, game-changing big plays to fans. https://t.co/jIPw0J94tX
— USFL Comms (@USFLcomms) May 24, 2023
“USFL is proud to keep ‘special’ in special teams with traditional kickoffs that maintain player safety,” the league wrote on Wednesday. “Many USFL players see an NFL path through ST play. [The USFL’s] innovative rules provide opportunity for players to deliver exciting, game-changing big plays to fans.”
The NFL cited player safety as the motivating factor for its rule change, one that was met with “aggressive pushback from special teams coaches and players,” per Sports Illustrated insider Albert Breer.
“The data is very clear about the higher rate of injury on that play,” NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said, per ESPN’s Kevin Seifert. “We’ve been talking about it for several years. We have not made a lot of progress on this play. This was a step that we think was appropriate to address that. But we have a lot more work to be done about how we continue to evolve going forward. Can we continue to keep this play in an exciting way but more importantly a safe way?”
