The NFL announced the slate of new rule changes for the 2023 season. Namely, kickoffs will be marginalized as the league works to gradually phase out the play. Starting next season, teams will be able to start with the ball on their own 25-yard line by calling for a fair catch on any ball behind that line. While this may seem like a minor rule change (there were only six total kickoff return touchdowns all of last season), it certainly seems to have rankled Lions head coach Dan Campbell and other NFL traditionalists.

“I'm highly frustrated,” Campbell said during a press conference. “It's very frustrating, but I don't make the rules. That's a new rules and we'll live by the new rule. We'll find a way to adjust, adapt and still get what we want. Its' what you gotta do.”

“I hate that we continue to take away from the game. thats what really worries me. we continue to bleed this league dry. If we're not careful, it won't replenish at some point. But listen, it's the rules. We'll listen and we'll adjust.”

In essence, it's liberating the touchback from the end zone and disincentivizing teams from trying to return the ball on kickoffs, which are traditionally the most dangerous play in the sport.

In this sense, Dan Campbell's annoyances lie beyond a simple affinity for kickoff returns. Rather, he believes that the soul and essence of the sport are under siege as the NFL tries to legislate away the game's inherent and necessary violence. In his second season with the Lions, Campbell oversaw a remarkable turnaround, leading the Lions to their first winning season since 2016.