Following comments from his head coach disparaging the NFL’s kickoff rule changes, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce voiced his opinion about it.
On his New Heights podcast, Kelce called out the change as “absolutely stupid” and said it takes away from the excitement of the game.
Kelce’s comments come after Chiefs head coach Andy Reid told reporters Wednesday that if the NFL keeps taking elements of the game away, “you’re playing flag football.”
Team owners voted Tuesday to approve the change that will allow teams to start drives at their own 25-yard line if they call for a fair catch on kickoffs, regardless of where the returner fields the ball.
The league’s justification for the change was its ongoing efforts to reduce the number of concussions.
NFL competition committee chairman Rich McKay told NFL Network’s Judy Battista the league has seen concussion rates go up on kickoffs in recent years “because the ball is being returned more by kicks that are being hung inside the 5-yard line.”
Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer reported last week that 19 players suffered concussions on approximately 2,700 kickoff returns during the 2022 season, up from 14 in 2021 and nine in 2020.
Despite the NFL’s best efforts to explain the change, it isn’t being received well by coaches and players.
Per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, there was unanimous opposition to the fair-catch rule from special teams coordinators around the league.
The rule change is only in place for the 2023 season, meaning the competition committee and owners will have to put it back on the table next offseason to keep it in place moving forward.
