There have been some minor tweaks that will be taking place in the NFL in the upcoming season, and they have received a lot of criticism over the last few days. Two NFL players, Jason and Travis Kelce, wondered what they thought about the rule changes.
“Absolutely stupid,” says Travis Kelce about the new rules
#Bosses TE Travis Kelce Destroys NFL Over Rule Changes: ‘Absolutely Stupid’, ‘Such Bulls***’
“They’re basically saying that if the 49ers had a third quarterback, they’d go to the Super Bowl.”https://t.co/NXJp8ocxA2
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) May 25, 2023
Perhaps the biggest change has to do with player safety. Statistically, kickoffs are one of the plays in football that causes the most head injuries, and the league has done everything it can in the past to minimize the effects. From 2023, they go a step further by allowing fair catch during kickoffs.
Under the current rule, a team that successfully catches the ball in a fair manner from the 25-yard line will have the ball moved to the 25-yard line to begin possession. Travis Kelce had a strong opinion:
“I think it’s absolutely stupid. I don’t think it makes the game safer. I think that makes it more boring. This takes away the excitement from the game’s opening game. This is a variation.
Jason responds by saying that we’re getting closer to eliminating special teams altogether. We’ve seen a predictably steep decline in returns since the league changed the kickoff positioning, and this new rule is likely to make kickbacks extremely rare. As the Kelces point out, teams will be catching pretty much every kickoff fairly except for the poor short ones.
#Cross HC Dan Campbell calls the new kickoff fair catch rules “highly frustrating”, especially since NFL coaches were against it.
“I hate that we keep taking a break from the game. That really worries me.”
(🎥 @Cross)pic.twitter.com/HTVvLCQWYF
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) May 25, 2023
Another rule added during the NFL spring meetings was the availability of an emergency quarterback on game days. As per the previous rule, a team can only have two active QBs in its roster. However, after multiple injuries to passing pitchers last season, and apparently largely after the San Francisco 49ers’ positional fiasco in the NFC Championship game, the teams may now be in third place.
The added player will not count towards the active game day list and will only be activated under certain circumstances.
Travis Kelce also shows his displeasure about this. He calls the rule “absolutely stupid”, saying the 49ers would have made it to the Super Bowl last season if the rule had been in place at the time.
