‘What the heck is going on?’ Ron DeSantis says NFL should sack ‘bad, bad’ kickoff change

Image via AP.

He’s not just a conservative in politics, apparently.

Gov. Ron DeSantis is speaking out against how NFL games will begin going forward, saying he prefers the old kickoff format.

During remarks at a church in Tallahassee, the Governor griped about the “universal” perception that the NFL fumbled the change in kickoff guidelines.

“They’re getting all the people lining up on the offensive side,” DeSantis said. “The kicker is way back on the other side of the field. I’m like, ‘What the heck is going on? Was there a pregame penalty or something?'”

DeSantis went on to gripe that after the kick, players aren’t “allowed to move forward until the receiver catches the ball.”

“It was really weird and I think the universal view amongst people was that it was a bad, bad rule change,” said DeSantis, who attended the Jacksonville Jaguars game against the Miami Dolphins on Sunday.

The NFL has framed the rules change as a response to “the lowest kickoff return rate in NFL history during the 2023 season and an unacceptable injury rate on kickoffs prior to that,” creating a “free kick” play designed to mitigate those concerns.

“The 10 kicking team players cannot move until the ball hits the ground or player in the landing zone or the end zone,” the rules stipulate.

Central to the new scheme is the landing zone: “the area between the receiving team’s goal line and its 20-yard line.”

Kicks that go out of bounds short of that area will see the ball spotted at the 40-yard line. Touchbacks now allow offenses to start drives at their own 30.

Onside kicks are only allowed now in the 4th quarter, and must be declared first, removing an element of strategy from the game that had been a staple.