Owners approve changes to kickoff, use of helmet

Its all about the narrative and the $$s. Follow public sentiment and the money and you'll understand the whys. As long as the bottom line waaasn't affected the NFL didn't give a rats ass about player safety. But with the lawsuits about the pain-killers and the concussion settlement pulling money out of the owners pockets, now they (the owners) need to be seen doing something about player safety.

The cynial part of me says it all has to do with the CBA coming up, when the owners can point to 'player safety' measurements they have added to the game while the players have fought them all the way.

Its all PR at this point.

I am interested in seeing how no 3 point stance changes the evaluation of college OL since many college moving to spread OFFs have done away with the 3 point stance for the OL.

This is where we will see all the unintended consequences to come. No one knows what will happen with KOs until preseason starts. As far as blocking and hits, I still don't know how any of this will be called. When Danny T hit Adams, there was definitely an aspect of Adams lowering his head as well as an aspect of Danny T hoping to light Adams up. So how do you call that? Adams ducked while Danny T was trying to cause maximum damage. Helmets hit and the one thing the league is trying to avoid happened on prime time TV. Adams had to be taken off the field. (stretchered if I remember correctly.) But until the players take ownership of the safety issue, nothing is going to change.

We are headed to a situation where players are going to have to sign iron-clad releases to play before games that release the NFL and individual teams from any culpability regarding injuries both now and in the future.

And we as fans are going to have to grapple with our sadness/anger over the Dave Duerson situations and our desire to watch 'football as it was meant to be played." Because if we want the second, I don't see how we will stop the first.

I love football, I think its the best team game. I wished I had played at a higher level than I did but when you are 5'10" and weight 180 pounds, and run like a one-legged man........Anyway...I love the strategy, the excitement of a long pass or a long run, Hester running toward a wall of tacklers and then finding a crack and bursting free, Von Miller coming around the end of burying a QB....And if they (the powers that be) turn the game into something else I'll eventually stop watching. But at the same time, I think someone is going to die on the field if player safety issues aren't addressed.

I also think the new kickoff rules will lead to more big returns.

I'm glad the NFL is trying to make the game safer for the players.  Even if it's a PR or money thing, if it results in a safer game then I'm all for it.  The game will never be completely safe.  But over time, maybe a number of factors - taken together - can result in a safer game.  Other sports have done this.  Racing comes to mind here.  Will it ever be completely safe?  No.  But I'm glad there is an effort to do better safety-wise.