Pat McAfee is a man who is not thrilled about a potential rule change in the National Football League.
According to Audacy’s Lou DiPietro, a topic raised during the owners’ meetings this week was the concept of allowing players to call for a fair catch anywhere inside their team’s 25-yard line on kickoffs. The ball would then be placed at the 25-yard line as though a touchback had occurred.
On Monday, NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reported that the NFL will vote on Tuesday during league meetings, and if all goes well, the ball will be marked at the 25-yard line after a fair catch on a kickoff.
Former punter Pat McAfee is among the noteworthy individuals who blasted the NFL regarding the suggestion that may be voted on by owners on Tuesday.
“Nobody really likes this rule potentially being an NFL rule which would be a fair catch on a kickoff going to the 25-yard line. It’s the most amateur, bush-league-looking bullsh*t I have seen in a long time when it comes to the NFL,” McAfee said during his show.
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McAfee added: “This is disgusting; this is not what football is.”
Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk suggested that the rule change might not garner enough support from owners to receive the minimum 24 votes required for approval. According to DiPietro, NBC Sports Washington reporter JP Finlay stated that Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh, New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton, and Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell are part of a so-called “coach pushback” against the change.
Meanwhile, NFL insider Albert Breer tweeted that a vote on the rule “may not happen at all” due to “strong opposition” from coaches:
The league has made multiple changes to kickoffs in recent years in the name of player safety but this new rule evidently takes it a step too far in the mind of Pat McAfee.
It remains to be seen whether or not the rule will pass.
