Free Republic

Remembering Ollie Matson, Bobby Mitchell, Gale Sayers, and so many others. Just sayin’, we’re missing a lot of great football without the exciting kickoff returns. What professional sports league would purposefully destroy their most exciting plays? Who would do this? Is this just a function of the wussified society in which we live? Here in the year 2019, this is what kickoffs look like most of the time: special teams amble onto the field. The kicker kicks the ball out of or through the end zone. The returner turns his head …. observes the ball … the special teams amble...

NFL legend Dick Butkus on Wednesday did not express enthusiasm for the idea of banning kickoffs from professional football, but he did not totally reject the proposal either. CNSNews.com asked him what he thought of it. “Well, it’s just the sign of the times,” said Butkus. “I guess the game is really changing. If they have statistics, which they claim they do, that a lot of concussions happen on the kickoff—I mean, you’re taking away one of the most exciting parts of the game,” Butkus told CNSNews.com in an interview Wednesday. … “They claim that, what, 30 percent of the...