Even Roger Goodell has a hit on his hands every now and then.
Goodell isn’t the most popular commissioner around—especially in New England—but he’s got a smart idea under his sleeve that might make NFL games more enjoyable.
It’s a shot clock of sorts, where teams would only have so long between extra points and kickoffs to actually make the play happen.
Marc Sessler of NFL.com captured his thoughts on this potential new wrinkle:
I think there was a very positive reaction to that. Most of the players that are on the extra point — maybe a tight end, maybe a kicker — are not on the kickoff team. So their special teams coaches will have to get prepared for the kickoff team and get them out there. Of course, this is when we don’t go to a commercial break. But there’s a lot of wasted time in there where, again, we want to take that out of the game. And this does not affect the 156 plays during the game. This is all about outside of the plays and what we can do to try and take that downtime out.
This idea, of course, hinges on the league’s ability to cut down on commercials after extra points and before kickoffs. It’s been a talking point this offseason, so fewer commercials after scores might be something coming to an NFL game soon.
This idea of a shot clock alongside it would be a huge win for the league. Special teams coaches would have to prep players for a new wrinkle and the underappreciated aspect of football would take even more skill and finesse.
A shot clock would also make a game go faster than usual. If cutting down the time of a game and increasing the skill necessary to win is a look at the NFL’s goals this offseason, this shot clock is the way to go.
About Chris Roling
Chris is an Ohio University E.W. Scripps School of Journalism graduate and associate editor here at TSD. He also covers breaking news and the NFL at Bleacher Report and resides in Athens (OH) with his wife and two dogs.
Email
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
