EAGAN, Minn. — The NFL has pushed the kickoff return further toward irrelevance with a priority on player safety. League owners voted Tuesday for a one-year trial of an enhanced touchback rule that ...

Few things in football are as important as the kickoff. The first and second halves begin with kickoffs, and they are implemented after every scoring play where time remains. In the NFL, kickoffs have ...

Purpose of Rule: Rule 9 covers a central principle of the game: “play the ball as it lies.” If your ball comes to rest and is then moved by natural forces such as wind or water, you normally must play ...