Fire (some of) the Latest NFL Rule Changes

Like watching Devin Hester return kicks? You'll be seeing him do it a lot less.

NFL owners voted March 22 to move the kickoff spot up five yards and to mandate a booth review for all scores, but punted a proposal that would have toughened penalties for hits on defenseless players.

First, let's hire the mandatory booth reviews. Nobody wants less accuracy or more challenges from the likes of Bears Coach Lovie Smith (2-10 in 2009, lifetime success rate of 31%). Also, NFL games are already pretty slow, so what's one more commercial break? (It's more money for the NFL, that's what.)

Fire the new kickoff spot. Kicks will now come from the 35-yard-line with the hope that there will be more touchbacks. It's definitely a good thing that this rule is intended to make the game safer, but since it essentially negates kickoff returns, why kick at all? Just put the ball on the 20 every time if safety is really the goal.

As for the delay in toughening penalties on defenseless players, well, fire that. Somewhere the Steelers' Jerome Harrison is nodding in approval, but this is yet another failure to deal with the top safety issue in the NFL. Some will say this is just more hypocrisy from the league in light of the new kickoff spot, but it also reflects something the owners (and everyone else) can't seem to reconcile: Can the game be made safer without fundamentally altering what makes it entertaining? There is no easy answer, and the owners won't have one anytime soon. Fortunately they will have some time to come up with something since there won't be a season in 2011.