One of the things I wanted to see (actually, the only thing) during the NFL’s 2024 Hall of Fame Game between the Bears and Texans at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, Ohio, on Thursday night was the new kickoff rule.

Why the new rule? Because the NFL has decided that kickoffs are boring when the kicker can just boom the football through the back of the end zone for a touchback on most of them but not so boring that it wants huge and fast men to race down the field before colliding into one another at top speed.

Under the new rule, the kicker still boots the ball from his own 35. However, his 10 teammates must line up at the receiving team’s 40. At least nine players from the receiving team must line up five yards away at their own 35.

This area is referred to as the setup zone.

These players cannot move until the football is touched by the return man or hits in the landing zone or end zone. What is the landing zone? It’s the area between the receiving team’s 20 and the goal line. If a kick hits in the landing zone and rolls into the end zone, it must be returned or downed. If downed, the receiving team gets the ball at its own 20. If a kick lands directly in the end zone and is downed, the receiving team gets the ball at its own 30. If the kick hits in the end zone and then goes out of the back of the end zone or simply sails through the back of the end zone (like the old days of last year), it will result in the receiving team gaining possession at its own 30. Most kickers have the leg strength to do the last part, so I’m guessing possession at the receiving team’s 30 will result from most kickoffs now.

As for the kickoffs that are returned? They will look slow, plodding and boring.

Miles Killebrew, the Steelers special teams ace, recently said the new kickoff return would resemble a long stretch play. I couldn’t picture what he was saying in my head, but when I saw it in action at the Hall of Fame Game, I said, “Oh!” But I was more excited about understanding what Killebrew meant than I was with a kickoff return under the new rules.

Don’t get me wrong, there does appear to be a chance for a long return provided a player finds a hole and hits it at full speed. However, I don’t think that hole will exist 99 percent of the time. The coverage guys were fairly disciplined when flying down the field at breakneck speed back in the glory days of kickoff returns. I think it will be much easier to stay in their lane if all they have to do is block the guy directly in front of them while also keeping their eye on what direction the kick is being returned.

Oh well, the NFL’s heart is in the right place. At least we now have a chance to see more kickoffs returned for touchdowns than we did in recent years.

But kickoffs will never be as exciting as the days before everyone realized they were also extremely dangerous.

The new kickoff rule might be boring, but if it leads to more returns and fewer injuries, that’s good enough for me.