Last season Lions running back Ameer Abdullah found success returning kickoffs leading the NFL with 1,077 yards on 37 returns. On that fact alone you can understand why the second year back will like to see the NFL keep kickoffs around instead of trying to slowly phase them out.
Here’s what he told MLive.com:
“The return is probably one of the most important plays in the game of football,” Abdullah told Hugh Bernreuter of MLive.com. “You’ve seen a lot of players make their money – DeAngelo Hall, Devin Hester, a lot of guys – pretty much make their careers on kickoff returns. And it can change the game. If the offense is stalling out, the defenses are back and forth and nothing’s really going on, a kickoff can be a play that can change the game.”
“They can’t take the kickoff away … I have to see the numbers to believe it’s too dangerous,” Abdullah continued. “I return kicks. I watch the film. What I see is what I see, and I think there are more dangerous plays out there.
“You can only have two-man wedges now too, so it’s basically just one-on-one blocks. I just don’t think it’s dangerous enough to eliminate.”
This season the NFL once again modified the kickoff rule giving the receiving team the ball on the 25-yard line (rather than the 20) if the kick went for a touchback. Perhaps this is additional compensation for the receiving team since the NFL moved kickoffs from the 30 to the 35-yard line back in 2011 effectively reducing the number of kickoff returns attempted.
Prior to the move in 2011, NFL players were suffering injuries at a greater rate on kickoffs than any other play throughout the course of a game and the numbers were trending upward.
So should the NFL just totally eliminate kickoffs? Or like Abdullah would you rather see them remain a part of the game? Let us know in the comment section below!
