11/20/25 01:00:00
Printable Page
11/20 12:55 CST Chiefs assistant Dave Toub: President Trump 'doesn't even know
what he's looking at' on NFL kickoffs
Chiefs assistant Dave Toub: President Trump 'doesn't even know what he's
looking at' on NFL kickoffs
By DAVE SKRETTA
AP Sports Writer
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) --- Kansas City Chiefs special teams coach Dave Toub
doesn't care a whole lot about what President Donald Trump thinks of new
kickoff rules that were implemented by the NFL in an attempt to make the play
safer and more exciting.
Trump became the first sitting president to attend a regular-season NFL game
since Jimmy Carter in 1978 when he attended a game between the Washington
Commanders and Detroit Lions earlier this month.
Two days later, Trump appeared on "The Pat McAfee Show" and torched the
league's dynamic kickoff rule, which owners voted to make permanent this year.
Under the rule, the ball is kicked from the 35-yard line, but every player on
the kicking team must wait at the 40 until the ball hits the ground or is
touched by a returner inside the 20-yard line.
There are also rules for if a ball does not reach the landing zone, hits the
landing zone without being caught or lands in the end zone.
"I think it's so terrible. I think it's so demeaning, and I think it hurts the
game. It hurts the pageantry," Trump said. "I've told that to (NFL
Commissioner) Roger Goodell, and I don't think it's any safer. I mean, you
still have guys crashing into each other."
The league has maintained the dynamic kickoff system is safer while producing
more kickoff returns. And Toub, who has spent more than two decades coaching
special teams in Chicago and Kansas City, didn't hold back Thursday when he was
asked what he thought of the president's pointed criticism of the kickoff rules.
"He doesn't even know what he's looking at. He has no idea what's going on with
the kickoff rule," said the normally reserved Toub, his voice rising. "So take
that for what it's worth. And I hope he hears it."
___
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
|
