Just a year ago, the NFL decided to change how kickoff works, and Harrison Butker found himself at the center of all the chaos. The league implemented a radical new kickoff rule in 2024. The rule was modeled after the XFL to cut down on injuries and bring back one of football’s most unexpected plays. One of the few teams that truly embraced the transition rather than stumbling through? Kansas City Chiefs. Why? Because they had Butker’s golden leg and special-teams expert, Dave Toub’s strategic mind.
The Chiefs’ coaches doubled down at the beginning of the last season that Butker would be the driving force behind this new kickoff system. Toub said at training camp, “Butker’s gonna be our main kickoff guy, I mean, hands down. Because he can move the ball and do a lot of different things, he’s our most talented kickoff guy.” The strategy? Use low, deft kicks to pin opponents deep, denying returners a good chance.
Fast forward to 2025, the kicker for the Chiefs is no longer just following the new regulations. He desires to create one for himself. Things went a little wild on a recent episode of the LOOPcast, a roundtable podcast that included Harrison Butker, Matt Walsh, Michael Knowles, and Fr. Mike Schmitz. When the topic shifted to football amid light-hearted jokes and philosophical discussions, co-host Tom Pogasic offered a half-legendary, half-joke idea: “Here’s the thought: if you kick it out of the end zone through the uprights, you should get a point, right?”
Butker responded half-laughing, half-serious, “Definitely. Yeah. They need to change that.” He immediately transformed a podcast riff into a valid NFL recommendation. “Anything that we can do to make the game more focused on special teams, kickers, punters—that only makes our value go up. So I’m all for that.” And then he added a little sarcastically, “Hopefully we’ll play into our 50s and 60s if we got the whole kickoff rule.”
Yes, the kicker who spearheaded the new kickoff system is now advocating for his next big move: adding a bonus point for playing a kickoff through the uprights. It’s part satire, part statement. But at the heart of it all? It’s an effort to make kickers more important in a game that is becoming more and more focused on quarterbacks, wide receivers, and edge rushers.
And when Tom made a joke about anyone who hits a kicker getting jail time? Butker’s deadpan statement, “Okay, I’ll take that,” said it all. If you score at home, one point for kicking it between the uprights, zero tolerance for touching the kicker, and possibly a few extra years added to Butker’s career. Sounds like a win-win.
How Harrison Butker’s Chiefs sparked yet another NFL rule shake-up
While Butker’s fantasy of a one-point kickoff may still be circulating among podcast listeners, the Chiefs have already demonstrated that they can defy NFL regulations simply by playing football. The defence of Kansas City stood on fourth-and-inches against Josh Allen in the January AFC Championship Game. The replays? Not sure. Bills fans? Enraged. And the NFL? Shocked.
That moment turned out to be the final straw. The league formally declared this offseason that Hawk-Eye technology, which is the same system used in soccer and tennis, will be the new gold standard for determining first downs starting in the 2025 regular season. “Hawk-Eye technology for measuring the line to gain is slated to replace chains as the primary measurement system for regular-season games in 2025,” the league said in a statement.
While traditional chain crews will remain on standby, the move marks another significant advancement in technology. And once again, the Chiefs were the decisive factor. Similar to how the NFL changed its playoff overtime regulations because of their thrilling 2021 Divisional Round matchup with the Bills. Kansas City’s victory over Buffalo in the 2024 AFC Championship Game had a similar impact.
It’s fitting, really. The Chiefs have already contributed to changes to the kickoff structure, the overtime format, and now the first-down measurement system in only four years. Perhaps we shouldn’t dismiss Harrison Butker’s request to have his new ‘kickoff field goal’ regulation added next. After all, it took the league almost five minutes to respond when a Chiefs player expressed frustration the last time. And, don’t be shocked if Roger Goodell soon receives official documentation from Kansas City to provide kickers a chance to score more points and possibly play till they’re sixty.
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