The Eagles pulled a fast one last week, using a holder on their kickoffs to angle the ball in a way that made it super tough for returners to field. Now, as the Bears gear up to face them on Monday night, Bears special teams coordinator Richard Hightower is fired up, saying he doesn’t think the Eagles should even be allowed to do that. And honestly, he’s got a point. This isn’t just a minor tactic; it feels like it’s totally twisting the spirit of the game.
Bending the Rules, Not the Wind
Hightower knows this rule inside and out, having been one of the special teams coaches who actually helped adopt the NFL’s “dynamic” kickoff. He’s telling it like it is: the whole point of letting a 12th player on the field to hold the ball was for windy conditions, with the ball sitting on a tee. It was never meant for what the Eagles are doing. Hightower laid it out, saying, “Two years we talked about it, where you could use a holder. It evolved to weather-related only. This past year it changed to you can use it at any time. But . . . the intent of the rule is the ball is supposed to be in a tee when you have a holder out there. It’s not to be used like you’ve seen it used here lately.” That’s a pretty clear statement about what’s going on.
Hightower Wants This Fixed, And He’s Got Precedent
Thankfully, it sounds like the league is actually listening. Hightower mentioned there’s a conference call with other special teams coaches set to hash this out. “We’re all getting together on that shortly and we hope to get that fixed and corrected within the language of everything done in the rulebook,” he said. He thinks the NFL could even make a change *now*, mid-season, to require the ball to be in a tee if there’s a holder on a kickoff, and that would be awesome. Why wait? We’ve seen this before, too. In 2022, the Raiders were using a holder to place the ball *on top* of the tee, and the NFL initially let it slide, then banned it mid-season. Hightower wants to see the NFL do the exact same thing here. It’s about fair play, and these kinds of tactics just don’t belong if they’re not in the spirit of the rule.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
Leave a Reply