The Underrated Importance of Special Teams in Football

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In football, players are divided up into three categories, offensive, defensive and special teams. Fans tend to think that the offensive and defensive players are the most important in the game, but the special teams can be just as important. Special teams can win the game, weather it is a field goal, or an onside kick. One play that occurs on special teams is the kickoff. The kickoff is important because it symbolizes the start of the game, is the play that allows a team to get the ball back after the other team scores, and is a play that teams can score on. Though the kickoff is a big part of the game of football, it is arguably the most dangerous. With twenty-two players sprinting as fast as they can for thirty or forty yards and then colliding with the opposing team, it can cause injury. The NFL has tried to make the kickoff safer by moving the placement of the ball from the 20-yard line to …show more content…

In order to make the game safer, the NFL needs to eliminate the kickoff entirely because the kickoff causes injury, is a boring waste of time, and is pointless. Football is a dangerous sport; players go into games knowing that they could get hurt. The kickoff plays a huge role when it comes to head injuries. According to an article by Mark Maske, there were a total of 270 concussions in the NFL in 2010 and 35 of them were from the kickoff. Though 35 may not seem like a large number it still would make the game safer if there were zero concussions instead of 35. The number has decreased over the years though, “Players suffered 266 concussions last season, including 20 on kickoffs, according to the study released Tuesday by Edgeworth Economics, a consulting firm. That was down from 270 concussions suffered by NFL players during the 2010 season, 35 of them on

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