Dave Toub
WHB 810
Kansas City Chiefs special teams coordinator Dave Toub was in no mood to hear President Donald Trump’s criticism of the NFL’s new kickoff rule.
Earlier this month, Trump slammed the rule two days after attending a game between the Washington Commanders and the Detroit Lions, where he was roundly booed.
“I do have to say, I’ll probably get myself in a little trouble for this. I hate the new kickoff in football,” Trump said on The Pat McAfee Show. “I think it’s so terrible, I think it’s so demeaning, and I think it hurts the game. It hurts the pageantry. I told that to [NFL Commissioner] Roger Goodell.”
At a press conference on Thursday, Toub was asked by a reporter about Trump’s comments.
“The president criticized the new kickoff rules when he was at the Washington game,” the reporter noted. “What’s your reaction?”
“He doesn’t even know what he’s looking at,” Toub said, interrupting the reporter. “He has no idea what’s going on with the kickoff rule. So, I mean, take that for what it’s worth. And I hope he hears it.”
Toub’s response elicited some chuckles from reporters.
Trump has long criticized the league’s ongoing tinkering with kickoffs, the most recent iteration of which came this year with its “dynamic kickoff” rule. The latest modification is intended to discourage touchbacks, which now result in offenses having the ball at their own 35-yard line instead of their 25-yard line, as was the case before. To avoid touchbacks, kickers must kick the ball in the designated landing zone between the goal line and the 20-yard line. Players on the kicking team cannot move until the ball either hits a player on the receiving team or the ground.
The new rule seems to be working. Through Week 4, teams returned kicks at a clip of 78.3%, the highest rate over that span in 19 years.