New CTE study shines a brighter light on the "dynamic" kickoff

The new study, trumpeted by the New York Times with a companion article suggesting that OSHA should get involved, regarding CTE rates in pro football likely won’t alter in any major way the realities of or participation in the sport, at all levels. Unless and until CTE can be diagnosed in living patients, football players will continue to embrace the vague (but real) risk of developing cognitive problems later in life.

But the data could provide ammunition for one specific aspect of the game. It could fuel an effort to move the touchback point on kickoffs from the 35 back to the 30.

Last year, when the touchback changed to the 35 and teams became incentivized to put more kickoffs in play, concussions spiked. Specifically for the player returning the kick and the player tackling him.

The league is well aware of this reality. And the question is whether the NFL becomes content to have fewer returns in the name of having fewer high-impact hits for two of the 22 players on the field during a kickoff play.

And while the current kickoff play dramatically reduces the possibility of the one potential outcome the league never says out loud (catastrophic neck injuries leading to potential paralysis or death), it presents a clear risk of increased concussions. As one source put it, it was “the elephant in the room” at the annual league meetings in March.

It ultimately comes down to the concussion rate for the kickoffs vs. the concussion rate for the scrimmage plays that are replaced by the extra real estate generated by the current kickoff rules.

Regardless, some within the league don’t like the current kickoff rule, in part because it shortens the field for offenses. The opponents to the present approach want the touchback to return from the 35 to the 30. The new study will cause the opponents of the 35-yard touchback point to argue even more loudly that it should return to the 30.