A year after supporting dynamic kickoff, Steelers could see rule become permanent

A year ago, Art Rooney II went from being skeptical about the proposed dynamic kickoff rules proposal to endorsing it by the time the NFL annual meetings concluded.

This year, the Pittsburgh Steelers president will have a chance to make the kickoff format a permanent part of the game — with a few modifications.

When NFL owners meet Sunday through Tuesday in West Palm Beach, Fla., they will vote on the future of the kickoff rule, which was enacted last spring on a one-year trial basis. They also will vote on four other rule change proposals, including the controversial Tush Push play, plus five bylaws and three resolutions.

From the time he arrived at the meetings last spring to when he departed a few days later, Rooney had a change of heart on the dynamic kickoff format.

“There was not a lot of enthusiasm to start,” Rooney said after those meetings.

The Steelers were one of 29 teams to vote in favor of the dynamic kickoff, which placed every player on both teams (aside from the kicker) on the same side of the 50. Three teams were opposed.

“It’s a dramatic change, no way around that,” Rooney predicted.

In the first year under the new format, kickoff returns increased by 57%, and the average starting line of scrimmage was the 27.6 — an increase of 4.6 yards. And injuries decreased.

“The goal when we modeled the new dynamic kickoff play was to drive the injury rate to be more in line with other plays from scrimmage,” said Jeff Miller, the NFL’s vice president in charge of player health and safety. “That is exactly what happened.”

Under the traditional kickoff format, Miller said injuries occurred at twice the rate of scrimmage plays, with concussions being four times as prevalent. It also led to a drop in returns that began in 2010 when the kickoff line was moved from the 30-yard line to the 35. The reduction in returns was immediate, going from 80 to 53% in one season, and touchbacks soared from 416 to 1,120.

Even with the implementation of the dynamic kickoff and 333 more returns throughout the season, touchbacks still happened on nearly two-thirds of all kicks. Which is why the NFL competition committee has tweaked the kickoff rule to have touchbacks placed at the 35 instead of the 30.

“We think that is a lot of motivation for people to kick the ball in play and get returns back in the game,” said Rich McKay, the competition committee chairman of which Steelers coach Mike Tomlin is a member.

A byproduct of the rules change in 2024 was eliminating the surprise onside kick and limiting it to teams trailing in the fourth quarter. The competition committee is proposing to allow the onside kick in all four quarters if the kicking team is trailing. Players on the kicking team also will be allowed to line up at the 35, where the ball is placed, rather than be a yard behind. The goal, McKay said, is to have a 10-12% chance of success for the kicking team to make the recovery, up from 6%.

“We’ll keep trying to walk our way to get to that percentage,” McKay said.

Arguably the most hotly debated rules proposal will be Green Bay’s attempt to have the Tush Push banned. The Packers are calling for a 10-yard penalty on a play that has been popularized by the Philadelphia Eagles and Buffalo Bills. The proposal calls for prohibiting “an offensive player from pushing a teammate who was lined up directly behind the snapper and receives the snap, immediately at the snap.”

That ownership will debate a proposal aimed indirectly at two teams has been met with skepticism.

“The thing that nobody likes about this discussion that we’re having is the idea that the rule is directed towards two teams,” McKay said.

Philadelphia has proposed having regular season overtime go back to a 15-minute session instead of 10 and mirror playoff rules in which each team gets a possession no matter if a touchdown is scored on the opening series.

Detroit is pushing for the elimination of an automatic first down on defensive holding and illegal contact penalties. The competition committee has proposed an expanded use of instant replay assistance that permits officials to pick up flags thrown for questionable fouls. No additional penalties will be called via replay assistance.

“We are 100% against ever putting a flag on the field,” McKay said.

Added Troy Vincent, the NFL’s executive vice president of football operations, “We know there are going to be mistakes, there are going to be human errors. Let’s try to fix some of those things, but to put a flag on the field is a non-starter.”

Among the five bylaws proposals is one from Detroit that wants to amend the current playoff format and allow wild-card teams to be seeded higher than division champions if they have a better record.

Ownership will hear a resolutions proposal from the Steelers that would permit unrestricted free agents to have one phone or video call with teams during the two-day “legal tampering” period. Presently, no such contact is permitted.

“I think that the game is in a good place,” McKay said. “I think that’s why you don’t see a ton of playing proposals on the table. Some years, we’ve had many, many proposals. This year, we don’t have as many.”