![](/sites/default/files/imported/DirectorSig2H.jpg)
Kicking Bad Habits
May 4, 2018
Forty years ago, as a youngster on a venerable staff at the national office of the National Federation of State High School Associations, where the playing rules for high school football were published, I would entertain my colleagues with a quixotic proposal – year after year – to eliminate the kickoff from football.
As a college player, I got my first playing time as a member of the kickoff team. I knew it was because the coaches didn’t want to risk injury to better players.
As a high school coach, when I conducted preseason scrimmages, I always insisted that kickoffs not occur because I didn’t want to risk season-ending injuries before the season even began.
So, as the world of football from youth levels to the pros is eliminating kickoffs or altering rules to reduce their frequency, I write smugly, “What took you so long?”
Rules committees on every level for every sport have an obligation to examine the data for their sports closely and determine precisely the circumstances that cause the most injuries. And then they must create and enforce rules that will eliminate or greatly modify that most injurious situation.
If the data tells us now what my gut told me as a young coach and administrator, we should give kickoffs the boot.
![Unforgettable 5ive](/sites/default/files/2021-09/210910_unforgettable5ive_2H.png)
Unforgettable 5ive: 2021 11-Player Football Finals
By
Jon Ross
MHSAA Director of Broadcast Properties
December 1, 2021
Here's a look at our Playoff Week 4 "Unforgettable 5ive" from MHSAA.tv and MHSAA media partner broadcasts:
► Belleville's Jeremiah Caldwell hauls in the 72-yard touchdown pass from Bryce Underwood in a 55-33 Division 1 win over Rochester Adams.
► Warren De La Salle Collegiate's Brady Drogosh breaks for a 45-yard touchdown run in a 41-14 Division 2 win over Traverse City Central.
► Detroit Martin Luther King gets a huge 4th-down stop against DeWitt to preserve a Division 3 victory, 25-21.
► Hunter Shaw's 33-yard walk-off field goal clinches Chelsea's 55-52 come-from-behind Division 4 win over Hudsonville Unity Christian.
► Grand Rapids Catholic Central's Nolan Zeigler takes the John Passinault pass 59 yards for the score in GRCC's 31-7 win over Marine City in Division 5.
► Dan Shipman intercepts the pass and returns it 29 yards, one of four Lansing Catholic interceptions, in a 16-6 win over Warren Michigan Collegiate in Division 6.
► Pewamo-Westphalia's Dak Ewalt runs it in from 35 yards out as PW defeats Lawton 14-10 in the Division 7 Final.
► Hudson's Nick Kopin scored twice, including this 6-yard run, in a 14-7 win over Beal City in Division 8.