NFL Is Stopping Las Vegas Raiders From Performing This Quirky Trick During Kickoffs
The Raiders' strategy of using a holder on kickoffs to improve hang time is no longer allowed.
The NFL has now reversed course and won't allow holders to hold the ball on top of the tee, according to FootballZebras.com.
Following the team's 27-20 win over the Chargers in Week 13, coach Josh McDaniels revealed why the Raiders had decided to use a holder on kickoffs: They were hoping to gain more height from each kick by having the holder put the ball at the top of the tee. By adding height to the kicks, McDaniels was hoping it would make things easier for their coverage team.
According to McDaniels, the Raiders checked in with the NFL to make sure their idea was legal and the league initially approved of the team's plan.
"They clarified a rule a couple weeks ago, that you're permitted to hold the ball on the top of the tee now, so we've got a good kicker, you can add hang time to the kick, and I think you saw Daniel use that to our advantage," McDaniels said Dec. 5, via Pro Football Talk. "As long as you don't kick it into the end zone, extra hang time, put it at the goal line, we're further down there, it gives the coverage team a better opportunity to make tackles inside the 25-yard line."
The height of the tee has a significant impact on kickoffs and has been the subject of all kinds of gamesmanship throughout NFL history, as Football Zebras explains, dating back to when kickers were permitted to build mounds of dirt to tee off from. In 1994, the league adopted a standard one-inch tee height.
The Raiders got around this by placing the tip of the ball on top of the tee rather than inside it. The NFL tee has a cavity that positions the bottom tip of the ball one inch from the ground, surrounded by a raised edge to balance the ball upright. By placing the ball on the lip of the tee and using another player to hold it there, Carlson was able to get additional loft on his kicks, allowing the coverage team to get farther down the field before the ball was caught. Of Carlson's 71 kickoffs, 26 were returned�for an average of 20 yards. That's fourth among all kickers with at least five kickoffs returned.
