[NU Sports] Corey Wootton

[Jonathan Hodges]

One interesting thing to note about this (although it is not directly
responsible for his injury) is that the Bears refused to kick off from the
35, instead electing to kick off from the 30 for a few times (before NFL
officials intervened).  As a part of the new CBA negotiations, the NFL moved
kickoffs from the 30 up to the 35 in order to reduce the chance of injury on
kickoffs (this rule will essentially guarantee touchbacks on the majority of
kickoffs, as demonstrated during the preseason so far).  The Bears (home of
Devin Hester) were understandably against this rule change and were
reportedly one of the handful of teams voting against this rule change. They
tried to show their defiance by not changing, but NFL officials said it was
not optional.

Also of note, it was just in 2006 that the NCAA moved kickoffs from the 35
back to the 30 in the interest of speeding up games (they later rescinded
some of the more controversial other rule changes from that season, but kept
the kickoff rule); in part, it was argued that aligning kickoff with that of
the NFL would allow them to better scout kickers and special teams players.
It will be interesting to see if the NCAA considers going back to the 35 now
that the NFL has done so (for comparison sake and, possibly moreso, safety).

Jonathan

On Mon, Aug 15, 2011 at 3:58 PM, <neonrye at aol.com> wrote:

> He's out 4 weeks with cartilage damage, suffered on kickoff duty the other
> night:
> http://espn.go.com/chicago/nfl/story/_/id/6862145/chicago-bears-corey-wootton-miss-four-weeks-source-says
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> nwu-sports site list
> nwu-sports at tssi.com
> http://romaine.tssi.com/mailman/listinfo/nwu-sports
>
>


-- 
Jonathan W. Hodges
Contributor, HailToPurple
Web: http://www.hailtopurple.com/jhodges/
Twitter: @hailtopurple
Email: j-hodges at alumni.northwestern.edu