NFL threatens to 'do away with' kickoffs if the play doesn't become safer

What some consider the most exciting play in football - the kick return - could have an expiration date.

Members of the NFL's competition committee say kickoffs need to become less dangerous or the play will be removed from the game altogether.

"We've reduced the number of returns, but we haven't really done anything to make the play safer," Green Bay Packers president Mark Murphy, who's on the competition committee, said Wednesday, according to ESPN's Kevin Seifer.

The league plans to talk to head coaches and special-teams coordinators about kickoffs "in the next few weeks," Murphy said, and the message will be clear.

"If you don't make changes to make it safer, we're going to do away with it," Murphy said. "It's that serious. It's by far the most dangerous play in the game."

The league has taken steps to limit the number of returns in a single game, and Tuesday, the NFL made permanent a rule that places the ball at the 25-yard line after a touchback. The touchback spot was moved up 5 yards from the 20-yard line in order to entice teams to opt for a touchback rather than a return.

Murphy said concussion rates are five times higher on kickoffs than on any other play in the game. The league's chief medical officer said there were 291 concussions reported in the 2017 season, the most on record.