Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, August 28, 1994 TAG: 9408300028
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By JACK BOGACZYK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Which brings us to the 30-yard line, which actually is taking five steps backward for kickoffs. The NFL is trying to take some of the foot out of its game, and the result will be measurable - in yards.
The increasing proficiency of kickers has brought increasing boredom to the NFL. The thunder-footed specialists have followed the most predictable play in pro football - the point-after-touchdown kick - with another boot of high expectancy. That would be the kickoff for a touchback.
The NFL has had too much of both, and the introduction of a two-point conversion - the first scoring change in league history - has attracted most of the attention in the off-season. Will coaches who are down one point after scoring late in the game go for a victory instead of kicking for one point and trying overtime?
The preseason numbers say yes. Starting Sept.4, those sideline gamblers may say no. Whatever the choice - and the two-pointer from the 2-yard line will be a better percentage play than in the college game, where it's tried from the 3 - the rule change that figures to multiply the spectator excitement at NFL games is the kickoff from the 30.
Consider some numbers.
Last season, 31.5 percent of all NFL kickoffs resulted in touchbacks. Of the 1,381 kickoffs that were returned, only four went for touchdowns. There were no kickoff-return touchdowns in the AFC, but then that's not so incredible when you consider the Tampa Bay Buccaneers haven't brought back a kickoff for a score in their 18-year history.
There were no kickoff-return touchdowns in the NFC East Division season, when a 68-yard runback by the Washington Redskins' Brian Mitchell against the New York Giants in October was the longest in the division - by 19 yards. And the special-teams coverage has become so sophisticated, the average NFL kickoff return was only 19.5 yards.
If the preseason is a prelude, then the home run will be back at places such as Candlestick Park and Mile High Stadium, even if the baseball strike doesn't end. According to NFL figures, in the first three weeks of preseason games, only nine of 260 kickoffs became touchbacks - 3 percent. There were 248 returned (one fair catch, two onside), and just as significantly, the average field-position start for an offense has been the 331/2-yard line.
The kicking tee has been cut to 1 inch, too, which still is better than the 1939 rule: ``During a kickoff, the kicking team may use only a natural tee made of the soil in the immediate vicinity of the point of such a kick.''
In those days, two years after the Boston Redskins moved south, the kickers didn't convert 96.7 percent of the PAT attempts, as happened last year. They didn't make 76.6 percent of their field-goal tries, either. Last season, 42 percent of all the scoring plays (touchdowns, field goals and safeties) were field goals.
That's entertainment? This season, coaches face another field-position decision before going for three. When a field-goal attempt is missed beyond the 20, the ball will be turned over not at the previous line of scrimmage, but from the spot of the kick. That change may bring more short punts, but it also will mean fewer trey tries from 50 yards or longer.
In the first three weeks of preseason play, NFL teams have tried 35 two-pointers, converting 11 (six of 22 passes, five of 13 rushes). The American Football League used the two-point conversion during its existence from 1960-69, but then the AFL also had the Denver Broncos' vertically-striped socks. The conversion rate was 52.1 percent in 10 seasons.
The other change that could produce big plays is the ``chucking'' rule, which has been altered to allow defenders to extend their arms to slow a receiver only within 5 yards of the line of scrimmage. That means more than a few cornerbacks and safeties might be chucking and ducking.
If all of these changes sound offensive, they are. The always image-conscious NFL is tired of being the No Fun League.
by CNB