National Football League Commissioner Roger Goodell opened the extra point discussion to the public after admitting the NFL is considering a proposal to eliminate the extra point.
Before disucssing the pros and cons, I think most of us need to know where the extra point came from. The extra points place in history always escaped me, so I did some research and found its origin traces back to rugby. In the past players thought of a touchdown as a means to get a free attempt at the goal and earlier scoring systems awarded more points for the kick than the touchdown. Obviously, those roles have been reversed over time, as the extra point might be on its way out.
The first thing that comes to mind for the average football-savvy American is that a touchdown will then be only worth six points, thus making field goals that much more important. Or would teams attempt a two-point conversion on every play?
Nope. Instead of the added risk and entertainment from closer margins, the ousting of the extra point wouldn’t do a thing to the scoring system. Goodell proposed a system where a touchdown would award a team seven points and the option to go for an eighth point. If the team’s attempt for an eighth point fails, it loses a point, thus making the touchdown only worth six points.
The NFL has good reason to propose the change, after Goodell pointed out that only five out of the 1,200 extra points attempted during the 2013-14 season were missed. With a success rate of more than 99 percent, kickers can practically make these in their sleep.
Obviously some of the only advocates against the elimination of the extra point are the NFL kickers. Stephen Hauschka, kicker for the Seattle Seahawks, said,
“ We’ve got the most popular game in the country right now and growing worldwide, but we are in danger of being marginalized.”
The kickers might be the only ones complaining, but they accidentally dug their own graves. The extra points used to involve more risk because they were attempted by position players, but now kickers are too good. You can put a robot out there and it might miss more. My vote to increase risk and keep the play: Employ a kid who is younger than 15 to kick. Create life-changing opportunities for children and be required to constantly change kickers because they have to be under the age requirement. They are compensated to the same point that college athletes are and parental consent obviously has to be given.
All jokes aside, I think the NFL’s plan to kill the position of kicker and take the “foot” out of football is noticeable. If it tried to do it slowly enough to escape attention, it failed. After moving the kickoff up, kickers are constantly booting the ball through the end zone and now people are questioning one of the most exciting, but most dangerous plays in the game. My advice to kickers is to stop being so good and scuff a couple kicks to keep your jobs because you seriously don’t have much of an argument. The kickoff will remain one of the most entertaining plays in football, but the NFL has shown it’s willing to sacrifice entertainment for safety. The extra point doesn’t simply have a point anymore, and with the NFL trying to squeeze as much entertainment out of every play, the extra point is as good as gone.
Send Tyler your thoughts to technician-viewpoint@ncsu.edu
