Ginn doesn't think the new rules changed kickoffs as much as widely expected, beyond forcing return men to make more decisions on whether to run out of the end zone. Nearly 50 percent of kickoffs in the season's first two weeks ended in touchbacks, compared with only 21 percent through Week 2 last season.Īt the same time, Ginn, Green Bay's Randall Cobb and Minnesota's Percy Harvin returned kickoffs for touchdowns in Week 1, all covering more than 100 yards. The league moved the kick from the 30-yard-line to the 35 and required players on the kicking team to line up no more than 5 yards back (previously, there was no limit on how far back they started).Īs expected, the result has been a steady parade of kickoffs flying deep into the end zone or out of play. He sustained a serious neck injury, the second of his career, and retired from football this summer.īy then, the NFL had adopted rules changes designed to make kickoffs safer. Hobbs got crunched on a kickoff, temporarily lost feeling in his body and was carted off the field. Ginn showed off his speed and grace in the 49ers' season-opening victory over Seattle, dashing 102 yards to score a touchdown (he added a punt-return touchdown 59 seconds later).Įllis Hobbs, then Philadelphia's kick returner, absorbed the brutal violence in a November 2010 game against the New York Giants. Kickoffs offer distinctive mayhem, a curious blend of speed, grace and brutal, bone-rattling violence.

'I feel like I'm the quarterback, the running back, the snapper - everybody who touches the ball on a play from scrimmage.' 'It's one thing I can control,' Ginn said of returning kickoffs.

Nfl kickoff rules