The year was 1876. Alexander Graham Bell received a patent for a little invention he called the "telephone". Johns Hopkins University opened in Baltimore, Maryland. And Heinz Tomato Ketchup was introduced to the public. The nation was only a baby at one hundred years old, but so many great people were causing great things to happen. Greater than all of these events and all these Men, however, was a greater celebration. In this year, the great Walter Camp was at the Massasoit Convention, drafting the first rules of American Football.
At the convention, representatives from Harvard, Yale, Princeton and Colombia to decide on a standard set of rules for the game. Though most were adopted from early Rugby rules, they were scribed and added to by "The Father of Football": Walter Camp. A student of medicine and business at Yale University, Camp was very athletic, having played in the first ever Yale-Harvard rugby game. Camp developed most of the rules of Football that varied from rugby. He decreased the size of the field and the number of players from 15 to 11. He developed the idea of the snap from the center to the quarterback and also the 2-point safety. Among many other things.
His rule changes have only improved the game. The decrease of players on the field makes the game more based on speed rather than strength, and the snap has given the quarterback more time to make plays getting him the ball faster from the line of scrimmage. This man has developed the sport of Football to be what it is today. He wanted to give America it's own sport. Both Rugby and Soccer (or un-American football) came over to us from Europe. The Knickerbocker Rules for early baseball has been published, but they would't stretch far out of New York for several years. These games were also played on the community level and had no inkling of collegiate prowess yet. Camp worked hard to make the game of Football a big thing in America as soon as he could and he knew exactly how to do it. Making firm swift rule changes that have survived the test of time to this very day.
In the coming years, other rules would change that had less of an impact on the game itself. The increase of touchdowns from 4 to 5 points and then from 5 to 6 points all happened in the course of six years. In 1950, unlimited substitutions had been restored after being changed back and forth for years. And in 1973 the numbering system was developed for each position.
All of these rules have two things in common. The first: If they had never occurred, the sport of football wouldn't have changed all that greatly. Scoring would have been different but we would have adapted. The game would have been different without substitutions but it may have even made the game more exciting. And I would't lose sleep at night if an NFL quarterback wore a number higher then 19.
Though none of these rules greatly impacted or revolutionized the game, they also have the second thing in common: They all made sense. The rule change made the touchdown worth more than a field goal. Substitutions gave the game an interesting flare and made Fantasy Football possible(yes, I'm sure this is the main reason for this). And the numbering system was just organization.
None of this, however, can be said for a new rule change that occurred in this past off season.
Moving the Kickoff from the 30 to the 35 yard-line may seem insignificant. And as long as the NFL claims it is for safety reasons, it's fine.
Well, it's not fine. And it doesn't make sense.
I'm looking to the future. When me and my son watch his first ever NFL game. He is very excited and pumped up as the teams line up to kick and receive. The kickoff occurs and, of course, it flies through the back on the end zone. My son's excitement is halted a little with a bit of confusion, but he continues to watch. Touchdowns happen, we cheer, and the ball continues to be kicked off. After the third or fourth ball sails over the head of the kick returner, my son looks to me and asks, "Dad? Why don't they just move back the kickoff a little?"
That's right. Even my imaginary unborn son can tell that this rule doesn't make sense.
The truth of the matter is, whatever small impact the rule change has on the safety of players, is made up for by the increase of punts and punt returns that result from forcing teams to take longer drives. The NFL has done a good job of saving face after it was accused of withholding player safety information for decades by implementing this very visual rule change, but it really doesn't amount to anything when the game itself is hurt so greatly.
So when I watch the game with my children and their children for years to come, I'll have questions of my own. How could something like this happen to the game that was forged almost a century and a half ago in celebration of our nations birth? And when they ask their question: "Why does the ball keep going over that players head?", my answer will be simple.
"It's because Roger Goodell hates America."
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