NFL Moves Kickoff Line To 35 Yard Line To Prevent Injuries

In an effort to reduce the risk of injury, National Football League owners voted to move kickoffs up 5 yards to the 35-yard-line. In addition to this rule change, owners agreed to allow referees to review all scoring plays, rather than just during the final two minutes of each half and overtime. Today was the traditional owners meeting in New Orleans. The meeting comes despite a contentious negotiation between the players and the owners over a new collective bargaining agreement. When a new deal could not be reached a couple of weeks ago, the NFLPA decertified, and subsequently, the owners locked out the players. The case is now in the courts, and will go to court April 6 to see if the decertification was legal or not. Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Peyton Manning and others are the lead defendants on the case, which is set to go before U.S. District Judge Susan Richard Nelson in St. Paul, MN. “There certainly appears to be a lot of injuries related to kickoffs,” said Margot Putukian, director of athletic medicine at Princeton University. "We're not sure whether it's the speed or distance they're covering at a high speed. We want to make the game safe.”