Larry David urged Dwayne Johnson to remove goalposts from UFL following failed attempt with NFL

The United Football League (UFL) is set to commence play next week, promising to be the biggest and the most successful spring gridiron competition ever devised. It already boasts a few notable changes from the NFL, but comedian Larry David has an even bolder proposal for Dwayne Johnson: remove the goalposts. He recalled Thursday on Rich Eisen's eponymous show:

"You know how I feel about the goalposts. And I heard about this UFL. And I thought, let me let me talk to somebody, because it's insane. So my agent got me on the phone with Dwayne Johnson... We had a conversation; I pitched him the 'no goalpost' idea. He was completely into it."

When asked about the rationale behind it, David said:

"There's no reason for it. Suppose there was a baseball game. And there were two parallel bars and deep centerfield that would be 12 feet apart, and you can get a guy off the bench to hit a fungo. And if he got through the bars, you get a run. I mean, what's the point? It has nothing to do with the game."

This is not the first time David has proposed such a change. Back in 2021, he said the NFL should eliminate kicking entirely.

“Why are there goalposts? Why are there kickers? They don’t have football skills, they’re not football players, I’m sure they’re wonderful people – why are they kicking the ball through goalposts to decide games? It doesn’t make any sense at all," David said.

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Differences between the NFL and UFL explained

Speaking of differences, the UFL is already looking to distinguish itself from the NFL with a couple of on-field changes that it will inherit from its predecessors, the XFL and USFL (United States Football League).

First, kickoffs will emanate from 20 yards as opposed to 35, which the USFL adopted in its second and final year of operation. A kickoff that goes out of bounds will be placed either at the 30 or where the ball went out of bounds. If the receiving team does not touch the ball, the kicking team may recover it only up to 20 yards from where it landed.

Second, all point-after-touchdown (PAT) attempts shall be scrimmage plays, a rule taken from the XFL. A conversion from two yards is worth one point; five yards is worth two; and ten yards is worth three.

In addition, the UFL will also implement a revolutionary fourth-quarter possession rule. If a trailing team scores, it can elect to keep the ball with a 4th-and-12 from its 28. The same rule applies in case of a tie.

Finally, an offensive play can feature two forward passes; however, the ball must not have crossed the line of scrimmage before the second one is thrown.