Patriots’ Matthew Slater says NFL kickoff rule change isn’t ‘really in the name of player health and safety’

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By Webdesk



New England Patriots special squad member Matthew Slater has been on the field quite a few times as he enters his 16th year in the NFL and feels strongly about the recent changes made to his side of the game. Last week, a league rule was changed to allow fair catches to kick off the upcoming season. A fair catch on a kickoff anywhere within a team’s own 25 yard line will result in a touchback with the ball at 25 yards.

The league says the aim of the change is to improve player health and safety in an effort to reduce kick-off collisions. However, Slater disagrees with the NFL’s reasoning, saying this area is not the leading cause of concussions and therefore should not be the focus of change.

“I just don’t believe this is really in the name of player health and safety. What I do believe is, ‘We [the NFL] want to portray ourselves in a way to the public that says we care about the players,” Slater said (via ESPN).

Slater pointed out that there are other areas where competition could improve safety and health. He cited “Thursday Night Football,” artificial turf over natural grass, and health care and disability benefits as examples.

“But I can give you a long list of examples where the league and those in power are not acting in the best interests of the players,” Slater said. “I understand we want to reduce head injuries and things like that, but we don’t always act like player health and safety is paramount,” Slater said. “If we’re really concerned about player safety and health, let’s talk about some of the real issues. Let’s not talk about a play, when [a high percentage of the time] the ball is kicked off, it is injury free.”

Slater is a 10-time Pro Bowler and is currently known as one of the best special team players in the league and above that they will be all-timers. He acknowledged that some people may not realize the seriousness of the rule change.

The 37-year-old said he knows “people will look at this and say, ‘What’s the big deal?'”

“For a player like me, I probably wouldn’t have had a career [without] this piece,” Slater said. ‘I [also] understand the players who came before me — the [Steve] Taskers, the [Bill] Bateses, who were able to establish themselves and make a career in this league because of the kick game.”

Slater is far from the only person to criticize the rule change. Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid and Baltimore Ravens John Harbaugh were both outspoken against it. with the question from the defending Super Bowl championship coach“Where does it end?”

The Patriots were one of the teams that voted against the rule change.

Commissioner Roger Goodell spoke about the inequality in the NFL and said that not everyone will agree on everything.

“We have different points of view in the competition. This is not the first time,” said Goodell. “The data is very clear about the higher injury rate in that game. We’ve been talking about it for several years. We haven’t made much progress in this game. There will be more work to be done on how we continue to evolve going forward : can we continue to play this piece in an exciting, but above all safe way?”

The Patriots captain believes the NFL is using the stats as an excuse to get off the game.

“We all know that data can be skewed and projected any way you want,” Slater said. “It is clear to me that they are making an effort to eradicate this game.”





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