NFL Considering Ending Extra Point Kicks
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – The National Football League is considering a plan to eliminate the extra point kick from the professional game. The kicked extra point currently comes from the two-yard line and in the NFL is rarely missed.
"The extra point is almost automatic," NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell told NFL.com. "I believe we had five missed extra points this year out of 1,200 some odd (1,256-1,261). So it's a very small fraction of the play, and you want to add excitement with every play."
So if the extra point kick was removed, what would replace it?
Goodell floated an idea that a touchdown would now count for seven points with a team option to run what is currently a two-point conversion play for an eighth point, but if you fail at the two-point conversion, the team score would drop back to six.
Essentially, a team scoring a touchdown is risking one point to go for two.
So what about the lonely kicker? He would still be needed for field goals and kickoffs. Even if kickoffs were eventually eliminated (which has been discussed for safety reasons), field goals would still necessitate a role for kickers.
The move would energize the time right after a touchdown like almost nothing else. But, there would also have to be a plan in place for an interception/fumble return by the defense on the conversion attempt and would that also eliminate a point from the scoring team and how many points a team returning a fumble/interception would receive.
For a scoring rule to change like this, 24 NFL owners would have to agree to change the rules. It would also be the most dramatic scoring change since the two-point conversion was added a few decades ago.
