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New kickoff proposal introduces “kicking sticks” to game action

As expected, the Competition Committee has proposed an overhaul of the kickoff. The official wording is largely consistent with existing information as to the anticipated revision.

There’s one twist that hadn’t previously been addressed. With the kicker kicking the ball well behind the other 10 players, what happens if the wind knocks the ball over?

From the proposal: “If the ball falls off the tee, the covering officials must stop play and restart the timing process without penalty to the kicking team. If the ball falls off the tee a second time during the same free kick down, the kicking team then must kick it off the tee with the use of League-approved kicking sticks to hold the ball in place. Immediately after the kick is made with the use of sticks, the nearest game official will retrieve the sticks while the kick is in the air. The ball may be placed on the ground leaning against the tee, provided the tee is in its normal upright position.”

In other words, the kicking team will no longer supply a player to hold the ball in place on a windy day. If/when that happens, the kicking sticks will keep the ball stationary.

Of course, there’s always a chance that the wind will be strong enough to keep the kicking sticks from working. It’ll be interesting to see what happens if/when there’s a day when not even the kicking sticks can hold the ball in place. The proposal does not address this possibility.