Today in Unwelcome College Football Advances: The Spread Punt

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That’s all well and good if you’re the only ones doing it, but when everyone does it, the punt return goes from a potentially game-changing play to an opportunity to make a nicely executed fair catch. Vince McMahon will tell you that fair catches are boring, and while he may lack awesome football league ideas — the XFL’s “no fair catch” rule came coupled with a ridiculous five-yard halo — he wasn’t wrong about everything. Watching a guy catch a ball lacks a certain something, and that something is a bare smidgen of interest.

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The NCAA already put a severe damper on the rugby punt by declaring punters live once they exit the tackle box; they should bring back the punt return by implementing the NFL rule where only eligible receivers can go downfield before the punt.

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