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NFL kickoffs will follow the XFL-style model in 2024 after the league approved new rules for the upcoming season, but not every team was onboard.
According to reports, the Green Bay Packers were one of just three teams to vote against the change. Something that team president and CEO Mark Murphy explained his reasoning for to reporters on Tuesday.
“Our issue was that it’s such a major change, my thought — our thought — was it makes sense, really, to have [it] as a trial or experiment in the preseason to see what — there’s going to be some unintended consequences, I think,” Murphy told Packers beat writer Ryan Wood. “And I just felt it made sense to have a trial.”
“But that said, it passed,” Murphy continued. “I think it was overwhelming, it was like 29-3. So, we’ll be very supportive of it. And, we do, we have one of the better kick returners in the league. So, we’ll put that to our advantage.”
Green Bay’s Keisean Nixon has been a back-to-back first-team All-Pro selection for the Packers since taking over kick return duties in 2022. Something that Murphy adds will help take the sting out of the new rule passing.
“We were kind of the outlier … Keisean is such a good returner. … So, I think it was good. And I think we were all in favor of something that would be safe and to get the kick return back into the game. It was really just a question of whether we go right with it.” Adding, “The other thing I should say is that it’s a one-year rule, so we’ll be able to evaluate it after the year.”
The NFL also approved the ban of the hip-drop tackle which will now result in an automatic 15-yard penalty, first down and potential fines for players who break the rule.