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President Trump Says NFL’s Dynamic Kickoff Amounts to “Sissy” Football
Published:
The leader of the free world checking in:
“‘Sissy’ football is bad for America, and bad for the NFL!”
And yet – the ratings are sky high and the sport has never been more popular. Maybe we don’t get the Devin Hester highlights of yesteryear, but those were few and far between by the time the new rule was instituted.
The new Dynamic Kickoff rule worked as intended. Returns increased 57% in the regular season and there were 7 kickoffs returned for touchdowns, the most since 2021. The new rule slowed the average player speeds, as intended, which led to a lower concussion rate (down 43% vs. 2021-23 average) and the fewest lower extremity strains on the play since at least 2018. This is among the data that will be shared with the Competition Committee as the Dynamic Kickoff is revisited this offseason following the one-year rule change.
“This season’s injury data underscores real progress in our efforts to reduce concussions and lower-extremity strains, key areas of focus for the league’s injury reduction strategy,” said Dr. Allen Sills, NFL chief medical officer. “We’re glad to see continued focus on these injuries pay off, and as always, will be using this injury data to inform and further strengthen our injury prevention and reduction approach during the offseason.”
Like it or not, agree or disagree, the rule change did what the NFL was hoping it would do, leading to permanent adoption.
Anyway, doesn’t Trump have more important things to worry about? Russia and Ukraine, Gaza and Israel, the economy, etc. What’s the price of eggs these days? And was the Charlie Kirk assassin a 4chan MAGA Groyper or an antifa leftist furry enthusiast with a trans boyfriend? Let’s keep the main thing the main thing.
disclaimer: this is not a political post, if Obama was complaining about the kickoff rule we would have written the same story
Kevin has been writing about Philadelphia sports since 2009. He spent seven years in the CBS 3 sports department and started with the Union during the team's 2010 inaugural season. He went to the academic powerhouses of Boyertown High School and West Virginia University. email - k.kinkead@sportradar.com