Sometimes when you hear certain news about somebody or a group of people, you get that “Why am I not surprised at all” feeling. This is exactly how I felt when I learned that the Bears of all teams would try to ignore the new kickoff rules. To be clear, I hate the new kickoff rules — we all do. Seeing that their kickoff returner is Devin Hester, you would have to believe that the Bears absolutely loathe the new rules in effect. If i were a Bears fan (or a Browns fan), I would feel the same way too. In yesterday’s preseason game against the Bills, the Bears decided to just do their own thing.
NFL.com has the details:
The Bears lined up Robbie Gould’s first and second kickoffs at the 30 instead of the 35, as called for in the new rule. When told of the kickoffs, Carl Johnson, the NFL’s vice president of officiating, called Soldier Field and ordered officials to “put a stop to it,” according to Fox Sports.
As it turns out, the Bears were more interested in practicing kickoff coverage than defying the new rule. The team reportedly told the officiating crew beforehand that they would kick off from the 30 at some point
The league is trying to make the game safer, but this isn’t the way to go. If all NFL teams did what the Bears did, then maybe we could collectively get the message to Goodell. But since it’s only the Bears doing this, it looks defiant.
Rules are rules and we have to live with them. Life goes on, football goes on, and we must adjust.