It's one thing for kick returners to bemoan their plight regarding the new kickoff rule that now has balls sailing into the end zone roughly a third of the time, but they're not the only people complaining. CBSSports.com's Josh Katzowitz wrote Wednesday that Patriots head coach Bill Belichick thinks the NFL wants to squash kickoffs altogether (the league disagrees with that assessment). The Browns' Josh Cribbs, the NFL record-holder for career kickoff returns with eight, has been understandably outspoken on the rules change. After tweeting over the weekend that kicking off from the 35-yard line has turned preseason games into a "scrimmage," he told FoxSportsOhio.com's Pat McManamon on Wednesday that "I'm entitled to my opinion." As is often the case, player safety prompted the rules change and Saints coach Sean Payton called the kickoff return “the highest risk of injury play.†“If that’s what the issue was, there are no stats to back it up,†Cribbs said. “The intentions are good, but the stats aren’t there.†Source: CBS Sports
