NFL considers rule change after Donald Trump blasted new kickoffs

The NFL is considering a rule change after criticism from former President Donald Trump, according to a report.

The league introduced the dynamic kickoff during the offseason in an attempt to revive kickoffs after previous changes were made amid player safety concerns.

However, just four weeks into the 2024 season, the league could be set to perform a U-turn.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell suggested that changes could be coming, hinting that moving touchbacks up 5 yards could also be in play.

'I think we'll have to make a few changes on the kickoff that will, I think, lead to a lot more kickoff returns,' Goodell said on NFL Network's 'Good Morning Football' Tuesday.

The NFL (pictured right, Commissioner Roger Goodell) is considering a rule change after former president Donald Trump (left) took aim at the league's kickoff

He added that the competition committee meeting to discuss the changes will be held next week.

The NFL has been tweaking kickoff rules in recent years due to safety concerns, but noticed fewer kicks being returned as a result. For instance, last season, just 21.8 percent of kickoffs were returned. Back in 2010, that figure stood at 80 percent.

So to revive the kickoff, the NFL tweaked the rules once again.

For a standard kickoff, the ball is kicked from the 35-yard line with the 10 kick coverage players lined up at the opposing 40 - five on each side of the field. This structure theoretically will reduce the number of high-impact collisions on kickoffs.

Meanwhile, the return team has at least nine blockers lined up in the 'set up zone' between the 30- and 35-yard line with at least seven of those players touching the 35.

Up to two returners are allowed inside the 20.

Only the kicker and two returners will be allowed to move until the ball hits the ground or is touched by a returner inside the 20.

And any kick that reaches the end zone in the air can be returned, or the receiving team can opt for a touchback and possession at the 30. Any kick that reaches the end zone in the air and goes out of bounds or out of the end zone also will result in a touchback at the 30.

Goodell's suggestion came just a couple of days after Trump voiced his criticism of the rule change at the Alabama-Georgia college football game at the weekend.

The league introduced the dynamic kickoff during the offseason in an attempt to revive them

Trump, Herschel Walker (center) and Clay Travis are pictured during Georgia-Alabama

'I don't know what they're doing with the kickoff return in the NFL, and I don't want to get involved in controversy, but it looks so bad, and I noticed they haven't done that in college, and they shouldn't do it, and I think the NFL should go back,' Trump told Outkick.com's Clay Travis, an outspoken supporter of the 45th President, Saturday.

Referencing the more traditional kickoff setup still utilized by the NCAA, Trump conceded 'maybe it's a little more dangerous' before quickly contradicting himself.

'I doubt it's any more dangerous, he told Travis. 'It is, you know, it's football. I think [the NFL] made a terrible mistake of doing that. But you look at this, [college football hasn't] done it, it was the first thing I was looking at, I said, ''have they done it?'' It looks so strange and you don't take something that's working and change it.

'But this is really big-time football,' he said, referring to Alabama's upset of rival Georgia. 'And it's great to see.'

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