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Associated Press had a more thorough explanation of the change in procedure, the K-Rule (that the Vikings were one of the early proponents of changing) and an opinion by an NFL kicker:
Subtle rule changes allow for longer kicks than ever
History of the K Ball rules
The change this year came after seven teams — Baltimore, Cleveland, Houston, Philadelphia, Las Vegas, Minnesota and Washington — made a proposal to reduce the stress on equipment staffs on game days.
Before this season, balls designated for use in the kicking game were shipped directly to the officials and brought to the stadium on game day. Teams then had a 60-minute window to prepare three kicking balls, using only a wet towel, a dry towel and a special ball brush.
Now, teams were given 60 “K balls” before the season to prepare for games, with each team getting three each game that are approved by the referee. No ball can be used in more than three games.
What’s the impact of the new balls?
Titans special teams coach John Fassel downplays the impact of the new rules, saying the approximately 20 minutes the equipment staff previously had to prepare each of the three kicking balls was sufficient.
Jets kicker Nick Folk equated the difference in the balls to buying a new baseball glove each week and breaking it in for an hour, compared with having a glove that has been broken in over a long period of time and now fits just perfectly.
“I’m happy it happened,” Folk said. “We get to kind of do just like quarterbacks get whatever they want to do to the ball, as long as it looks like a football and the logo’s still there and all that stuff, I think they’re pretty lenient with that. It’s a very welcoming thing to be able to kind of look at a ball and be like: ‘All right, I want to kick this one this week, I want to kick this one this week.’”
The impact isn’t solely on field goals. Punts are traveling farther, too. After the average dropped by 1.5 yards from 1998 to 1999 when the first “K balls” were put in use, there has been a gradual uptick since the rules first changed in 2007.
The average punt now travels 47.7 yards, which would have been the individual single-season record as recently as 20 years ago.
San Francisco punter Thomas Morstead said he lets the equipment staff deal with the ball preparation but does see a difference, especially compared with when he first entered the league in 2009 and some home teams would try to sneak fresh balls in for the visitors.
“I’m not like a scientist back there measuring things out,” he said. “I just give them general things like, hey, if the leather is nice and soft and the ball’s relatively beat in, and we want to keep the PSI as high as possible, which is 13.5, then I’m good.”
Niners kicker Eddy Pineiro estimates the broken-in balls add maybe 3 or 4 yards to the distance on kicks, calling the difference meaningful but not as impactful as kicking at a high altitude in Denver.
“It’s normal now to kick a 60-plus-yard field goal,” said Pineiro, who hit a career-best 59-yarder this past week but once kicked an 81-yarder in practice in college at Florida.
“It’s not like: ‘Oh my God. Wow!’ like it used to be. It’s kind of expected. But that’s part of the game. The game’s evolving for the better, and kickers are making more kicks in and farther kicks. If you don’t have a broken-in ball, it’s a lot harder to hit a 60-yard field goal.”
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