ORLANDO, Fla. — The NFL kickoff is getting a makeover.
As the league sought to preserve a key phase of the game while decreasing the injury risk that high-speed collisions with distance-boosted acceleration create, a proposal for a new configuration passed in a Tuesday morning vote.
Key changes to NFL kickoffs
The kicking team will still kick from the 35-yard line, but players on the kicking team will line up at the opponent's 40. Those players cannot move, and the kicker himself cannot cross the 50, until the ball hits the ground or a receiving player in the “landing zone” (from the goal line to the 20) or end zone
The receiving team must have a minimum of nine players lined up in the “setup zone” (between the 30- and 35-yard lines) with a maximum of two returners lined up in the landing zone
Any kick that hits the landing zone must be returned, while any kick that bounces into the end zone from the landing zone must either be returned or downed by the receiving team for a touchback to the 20-yard line
Any kick short of the landing zone gives possession to the receiving team at its own 40; any kick that hits the end zone and is downed is a touchback to the 30; and any kick that goes out of the back of the end zone is also a touchback to the 30
There are no more fair catches
There are no onside kicks until the fourth quarter begins and a team is trailing, and current onside kick rules would apply
Kickoffs after safeties will be from the 20, and the kicker will have the option to use a tee; setup and landing zones will not change
Penalties that carry over to kickoffs would only impact the spot of the kick, not the setup or landing zones and not where players line up
The change was initially confirmed by a source to Yahoo Sports.