When the Green Bay Packers line up for a kickoff this coming season you will see something completely new.  Like it or not, the National Football League announced Tuesday that league owners voted to fundamentally change the kickoff.  The Packers were reportedly one of just three teams to vote against the new rule, along with the Raiders and 49ers.  The new low-impact kickoff rule is modeled after what the XFL used in their league, with hopes to decrease the chance of injuries while increasing the number of returns.

The new rule will have 10 players on the kicking team and at least nine players on the receiving team lining up five yards apart.  The kickoff team will line up at the other team’s 40-yard line, while the receiving team’s blockers will be lined up on their 35-yard line and no players can move until the ball either touches the ground or is grabbed by the returner.  The kicker will still kickoff from his own 35-yard line, but the ball must travel between the 20-yard line and the goal line. Any out-of-bounds kicks or ones that come up short of the 20-yard line, will result in the receiving team awarded the ball at the 40-yard line.  A touchback in the end zone will bring the ball out to the receiving team’s 30-yard line unless it rolls into the end zone, then it would be a touchback to the 20 yard-line. 

Also, the element of surprise for the onside kick won’t happen.  Teams must declare their intentions to try it and only if it’s the fourth quarter and they are trailing in the game.