Altering a single football play could potentially minimize brain injuries.
Kickoffs initiate each half and occur following a touchdown or field goal. Under previous regulations, the kicking team initiated at their 35-yard line and aimed to kick the ball as far downfield as achievable, enhancing their defense's prospects of halting the offense from reaching the end zone, while the receiving team attempted to progress the ball as far as possible up the field. With both teams attacking each other at top velocity, collisions between players could be very severe.
The contemporary version involves players positioning themselves closer to one another and waiting for the ball to strike the ground or be touched by a returner within the 20-yard line before moving. Time will reveal whether this will maintain its status as one of football's most perilous plays. However, some younger athletes believe that the professionals should consider this approach: At Riverdale Country School in the Bronx, they've abolished the kickoff entirely.
Tristan Cornell, the varsity team captain and junior tight end and middle linebacker at Riverdale, who's never played in a game with a kickoff, commented, "The kickoff isn't as significant as it appears to outside spectators. The fact that we don't have this probably enables us to remain healthy and compete throughout the entire season."
The decision to remove the conventional kickoff at Riverdale Country School was prompted by a 2018 season riddled with injuries, forcing the school to abandon its final game due to a scarcity of healthy players.
"It was for safety. It was the best option," remarked John Pizzi, Riverdale's Director of Athletics.
Concussions from plays like kickoffs aren't purely a short-term concern for players: Repeated blows to the head can progressively turn into a larger issue later in life, resulting in chronic traumatic encephalopathy or CTE, a degenerative and fatal illness.
High school football participation in the US has marginally increased over the past two years, according to the National Federation of State High School Associations’ 2023-24 participation survey. However, it had been declining for nearly a decade as reports of safety concerns within the game surfaced.
Pizzi emphasized that the school is always thinking about safety measures. The team also includes four athletic trainers on staff who frequently meet with Pizzi. But even constant strategy sessions couldn't prevent injuries, and at the end of the 2018 season, Pizzi concluded they needed to adopt a different strategy.
Pizzi reached out to the experts at the Concussion Legacy Foundation, an organization intent on safeguarding athletes' brain health and making sports safer.
In collaboration with the foundation, Pizzi and his team analyzed injury statistics not just within their division but also among professional and college athletes. The data showed that kickoffs accounted for a disproportionate number of concussions.
A 2018 study on data from the 2015 Ivy League football season demonstrated that although kickoffs made up 6% of the plays, they accounted for 21% of reported concussions.
In the NFL, kickoffs were four times more likely to cause a concussion than a play involving running or passing.
Spurred on by Pizzi, Riverdale and teams in the Metropolitan Independent Football League decided to abandon the kickoff to help minimize injuries. This makes Riverdale the first known high school sports league in the US to undertake such measures.
At the start of each half and after scoring, players no longer accelerate towards one another from opposite ends of the field at high speed. Instead, teams align at the offense's 35-yard line, and players specializing in safety commence on the 20-yard line.
Schools within the league have also limited full-contact practice to six hours during preseason and 15 minutes per week during the regular season. They have also restricted the onside kick, an essential play used by teams to retain ball possession after scoring.
Admittedly, not everyone was initially supportive of these changes.
"I suppose we had difficulty persuading some of our parents and some of our more traditional football coaches that this would work," remarked Pizzi.
However, these modifications proved to be successful. Across the league, they saw a collective reduction in injuries, including concussions, according to Pizzi. Between 2019 and 2021, the Metropolitan Independent Football League observed a 33% decrease in concussions.
Cornell, the junior at Riverdale, appreciated the modifications. Injuries are a persistent concern even during the offseason. "I simply need to stay healthy throughout the season. If I'm out for the season, it lets my team down."
Pizzi also noted that these changes had increased parental confidence in allowing their children to participate in the sport. As soon as the new rules were implemented, some juniors and seniors joined the team for the first time.
Football participation has increased by 18% throughout the league between 2019 and 2021. Since teams no longer waste practice time on kickoffs, coaches can now focus more on one-on-one training with less experienced and younger players who usually comprised the kickoff teams.
With such compelling evidence to show, skeptical coaches and parents have gradually come to support the changes – even while acknowledging that injuries can still occur.
"We'll never be able to completely eliminate concussions in sports," said Pizzi. "Unfortunately, it's just a part of football."
When Pizzi phoned the Concussion Legacy Foundation, he cracked a joke about overhauling football in the USA, and it seems like that's exactly what's happening - at least in his realm. He's optimistic that once people realize how beneficial the changes were for his team, others will hop on the bandwagon.
"Player safety in sports, I'd say, is close to the top of our priorities," Pizzi pointed out.
The NFL Kickoff's Evolution
The NFL's regulations have evolved over time, but Richard McKay, a co-chair of the league's Games Committee, mentioned that high school kickoffs differ significantly from their professional counterparts. High school players aren't able to kick the ball all the way to the end zone like the pros can.
Subscribe to CNN Health's newsletter
- Click here to receive The Results Are In with Dr. Sanjay Gupta every Tuesday, straight from the CNN Health team.
"Given the talent we have, we can make this play safe," McKay declared.
The NFL's Medical Director, Dr. Allen Sills, expressed his intrigue towards the potential elimination of kickoffs in high school football games, an approach the league is considering, along with the impact of its new kickoff rules.
"All possibilities are on the table," Sills confirmed.
"Definitely, scrapping the play is an option, but I believe there are other potential solutions, and we're aiming to identify them. Isn't there a way to keep the play in the game while preserving its thrilling aspect?"
CNN owes a debt of gratitude to Amanda Sealy for her contributions to this report.
The decision to eliminate the conventional kickoff at Riverdale Country School was primarily due to safety concerns, as the play was found to contribute significantly to concussions. Tristan Cornell, the varsity team captain, believes that this change has allowed the team to maintain better health during the entire season.
Concussions from plays like kickoffs can have long-term effects, leading to chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative and fatal illness. This illustrates why player safety in sports is of paramount importance and why some leagues are considering modifying or eliminating high-risk plays.
