A change to the kickoff rules during the offseason has led to a historic week 1 for special teams.The starting location for a drive beginning from a touchback on a kick was moved from the 25-yard line to the 35-yard line. The additional 10 yard gain from a touchback forced teams to try to avoid this altogether. In all, 75.6% of all kicks were returned, the highest rate for 15 years."A modest change to the NFL’s kickoff rules made a massive impact on Week 1, producing the highest single-week return rate in 15 years."This news, and the overall change to the kickoff rules have led fans to react to these changes on social media. Here is a selection of these responses.These fans think that the new rules have taken the fun out of kickoffs."It's just not as fun anymore. They ruined it completely.", said this fan. "Modest but boring. Worst kickoff rule ever.", said another fan.These fans think that the rules have made special team relevant again."it feels like special teams just got revived overnight.", said this fan. "Highest return rate in 15 years shows how impactful rule adjustments can be. Special teams just got relevant again.", said another fan. "Kickoffs actually matter now, didn’t see that coming.", said a third fan.Finally, these fans see the changes as a win."Win for all return specialists.", said this fan. "Was a great rule change.", said another fan. The new kickoff rules led to a historic weekendLast week was the first week when the new kickoff rules were in place, and the impact of this move was immediately felt. Out of the 156 kickoffs during week one, 118 of them (75.6%) were returned by the special team. This is the highest rate of returns since week 17 of the 2010 season.This finding is the result of a long-term attempt by the NFL to change the kickoff procedure in response to the overuse of touchbacks in recent years. For example, in the 2023 season, only 21.8% of kickoffs were returned, potentially the lowest rate of return in the modern history of the NFL.The lack of returns in the past may be due to the safety risks to players during returns. However, the reforms have also changed what the players can do on a return, which has made the kickoff procedure safer.While we can not read much into the overall patterns based solely on one week of data, it could be the beginning of a revival for the kickoff return in the NFL.