NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell Eyeing the Elimination of the Extra Point – Football Purists Throw a Flag on the Idea

The stage is set for Super Bowl 48 between the Denver Broncos and the Seattle Seahawks, which should be a great game...maybe one of the best in recent memory. On Monday, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said the league is looking at the possibility of eliminating the extra point kick after a touchdown. As you can imagine, football purists are calling a personal foul on the integrity of the game with such a change, but a lot think it might be a good idea and about time.

Goodell explained that the extra point in today's game is as close to automatic as you can get and has outlived it's usefulness, even though extra points are missed, but at the NFL level, such misses are rare and few and far between.

Touchdowns would be worth seven points and there would a conversion opportunity that if successful, would give a team eight points. However, if the conversion try is unsuccessful, teams would lose a point and only be awarded six points, which completely changes the dynamic of the 'extra point', not to mention the strategy behind 'going for it'.

I have always felt the current extra point kick has become anticlimactic so, I think the new plan is a great idea and would make the games much more exciting and dramatic, but not everyone agrees and some think Goodell has done enough to change the game under the guise of player protection and should just keep his hands off the game.

To my knowledge this change would not affect college and high school football where the 'extra point' kick is nowhere near as automatic. Games are won and lost all the time at the collegiate and high school level because of missed extra points...although it would be fun to watch a Mater Dei / Reitz game under the new proposal, which is not likely to happen, at least not anytime soon.

Below is one of the rare examples of a missed extra point at the NFL level that was epic! See for yourself below.

[Sporting News]