Several of my recent posts have mentioned the ‘Ask Me Anything’ that FCFL co-founders Ray Austin, Patrick Dees and Grant Cohen did a few days ago. One idea that Ray suggested in that video is to get rid of special teams completely. I’m 1000% in favor of this idea!
According this article, there were an average of 10.5 kickoffs per game, 10.3 punts per game and 4.1 field goal attempts per game in 2013. I don’t have the data handy, but I suspect the numbers haven’t changed that much in the past four years.
According to my own calculations, an average of 0.1 of those per game are worth watching. I’m not exaggerating when I say that I’m not sure that I can remember a single kickoff, can only remember a handful of field goal attempts, and exactly one punt. Seriously…this one: http://www.nfl.com/videos/philadelphia-eagles/0ap2000000153487/Randall-Cunningham-91-yard-punt It was a really cool play, but not worth a lifetime of watching special teams units shuffle on and off the field.
To make matters worse, those 24.9 pointless plays per game each involve at least one unnecessary play stoppage. In many cases, there’s a long wait both before and after the special teams units take the field. For those of us who often don’t have three full hours to devote to watching a game, these delays are painful and often lead to finding something else to do.
If Ray Austin, a former special teams player, can live with a world where football doesn’t have special teams, then so can I.