{"id":136310,"date":"2025-09-11T14:16:12","date_gmt":"2025-09-11T14:16:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/136310\/"},"modified":"2025-09-11T14:16:12","modified_gmt":"2025-09-11T14:16:12","slug":"nfl-kick-returns-once-heading-toward-extinction-are-on-the-rise-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/136310\/","title":{"rendered":"NFL kick returns, once heading toward extinction, are on the rise again"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yahoo Sports AM<\/a> is our daily newsletter that keeps you up to date on all things sports. Sign up here<\/a> to get it every weekday morning.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udea8 Headlines<\/p>\n

\ud83c\udfc0 Banned for gambling: The NCAA has permanently banned three men’s basketball players<\/a> for betting on games last season at Fresno State and San Jose State. Per the NCAA: the players “bet on their own games, one another’s games and\/or provided information that enabled others to do so.”<\/p>\n

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\u26be\ufe0f The streak is over: Aroldis Chapman allowed his first hits since July 23rd<\/a>, which resulted in a walk-off loss for the Red Sox and snapped his streak of 50 straight hitless batters spanning 17 appearances, the third-longest such streak since 1901.<\/p>\n

\ud83c\udfc0 The plot thickens (again): In December 2022, Clippers co-owner Dennis J. Wong reportedly made an almost $2 million investment in Aspiration, which turned around and paid Kawhi Leonard $1.75 million, according to Pablo Torre<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u26be\ufe0f Tigers misconduct: Eight high-ranking men affiliated with the Detroit Tigers have been accused of misconduct toward women<\/a> since 2023, The Athletic reports. Six of the eight were either fired, resigned or did not have their contracts renewed.<\/p>\n

\ud83c\udfc0 Unrivaled expansion: The women’s 3v3 league is adding two expansion teams<\/a> and a dedicated player development pool ahead of its second season, which tips off in January. Earlier this week, Unrivaled raised new capital at a $340 million valuation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\ud83c\udfc8 The return of returns\"(Henry<\/p>\n

(Henry Russell\/Yahoo Sports)<\/p>\n

The NFL made it a priority this season to bring one of the game’s most exciting plays back from the brink of extinction. So far, so good.<\/p>\n

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By the numbers: 75.6% of kickoffs were returned during Week 1, which is the highest single-week return rate since 2010<\/a>.* That’s also more than two times last year’s rate (32.8%) and nearly four times the record low from 2023 (21.8%).<\/p>\n

The return of returns: The increase is thanks to an updated rule that sees the ball placed at the 35-yard line after a touchback, disincentivizing kickers from booting it through the end zone.<\/p>\n

Last year, when the league implemented its first iteration of the new dynamic kickoff rule<\/a>, they were placed at the 30.<\/p>\n

*What happened after 2010? As you can see in the chart above, return rates dropped precipitously in 2011. Why? Kickoffs moved up five yards that year from the 30 to the 35, beginning the trend of increased touchbacks that has only just begun reversing.<\/p>\n

\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 The Man in the Red Bandana\"(Al<\/p>\n

(Al Pereira\/Michael Ochs Archives\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

24 years ago today, the world changed forever.<\/p>\n

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An annual tradition: Every year on 9\/11, I watch “The Man in the Red Bandana<\/a>,” a tribute to former Boston College lacrosse player and volunteer firefighter Welles Crowther, who died after saving nearly 20 lives that day.<\/p>\n

When Flight 175 hit the South Tower, people on the 78th floor sky lobby huddled together, frightened and confused. There was no escape as far as they could tell. Then, a man with a red bandana covering his nose and mouth suddenly appeared from the wreckage and smoke.<\/p>\n

He spoke in a calm voice and guided them to a stairway, leading them to safety. The man in the red bandana made three trips to the sky lobby, saving as many people as he could, until the burning building collapsed.<\/p>\n

\"Welles<\/p>\n

Welles Crowther beside a firetruck. (Alison Crowther)<\/p>\n

A few months later, stories from survivors surfaced about the mysterious man wearing the red bandana. When Alison Crowther read an article about the hero in the New York Times, she knew that man was her son, Welles, who had carried a red handkerchief since he was a boy.<\/p>\n

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\u200cWatch: “The Man in the Red Bandana<\/a>“<\/p>\n

\ud83c\udfc8 After years of irrelevance, USF is back\"(Dillon<\/p>\n

(Dillon Minshall\/Yahoo Sports)<\/p>\n

USF is America’s hottest underdog. Not bad for a college football program better known for parking tickets than wins.<\/p>\n

From Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger:<\/a><\/p>\n

Four years ago, at a beach in Antigua, under an umbrella and with a drink in hand, Alex Golesh created the blueprint for his first head coaching job.<\/p>\n

Beside him, nestled in her reclining chair, wife Alexis watched the waves lap the shore as her husband spent the week furiously scribbling into his iPad, mapping out what he’d accomplish every day for his first 90 days if a school ever hired him. He calls this a “vacation.”<\/p>\n

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Some 18 months later, after South Florida picked him to take over a program that had won four games in three seasons, Golesh arrived in Tampa to find a team with a 2.2 GPA, no uniform meal schedule, a shared training room and not near enough academic counselors.<\/p>\n

Players traveled to games on an off-brand airline company with sporadic air conditioning, had less than $250,000 of NIL pay and, at times, returned from practice with their vehicles ticketed or worse.<\/p>\n

In December of 2022, Golesh began working through that blueprint, day by day. Now, on Day 1,012, his USF Bulls are all the rage in the sport, having upended the 13th-ranked Florida Gators to win a 16th game in his 28th at the school.<\/p>\n

They’ve got a 3.1 GPA, at least three set team meals a day, a separate training room, plenty of academic tutors, a new airline, perhaps the most NIL of any non-power league FBS program and no more parking tickets.<\/p>\n

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The big picture: Leaders are positioning USF \u2014 which was passed over by the Big 12 in the last round of expansion \u2014 to be the most attractive brand of the non-power leagues before the long-discussed, and perhaps inevitable, split of NCAA Division I transpires. Will the top 30 FBS teams split off? The top 50? The top 70?<\/p>\n

“You’ll have Tier 1 and Tier 2,” says Will Weatherford, the chair of the USF board of trustees. “We are not going to let ourselves slip down and be left behind again. We’ve made our choice not knowing where the [demarcation] line is going to be. \u2026 We’ve invested more in our football program the last three years than the previous 20-25. We’ve gone all-in.”<\/p>\n

Coming up: No. 18 USF visits No. 5 Miami this weekend.<\/p>\n

\u26bd\ufe0f 2026 World Cup: Presale now open\"The<\/p>\n

The World Cup trophy on display last year in Miami. (Eva Marie Uzcategui\/FIFA via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

We’re still 273 days away from the 2026 World Cup, but the ticketing process has already begun with the first presale applications opening yesterday<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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How it works: You can’t buy your tickets quite yet, but Visa cardholders may enter a draw<\/a> anytime from now through next Friday, Sept. 19, for a chance to purchase tickets to one of the 104 matches at next summer’s event in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.<\/p>\n

If your application makes it through the random selection process, you’ll be notified via email and given a specific date and time slot to purchase tickets.<\/p>\n

Tickets will initially range from as low as $60 to as high as $6,730 for the final at MetLife Stadium. But prices could grow much higher due to FIFA’s controversial decision to employ dynamic pricing at the World Cup for the first time.<\/p>\n

What they’re saying: New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, running on a platform of making the city more affordable, launched a petition on Tuesday<\/a> that calls on FIFA to abandon its dynamic pricing plan and place a cap on resale prices.<\/p>\n

“For the first time, FIFA is using dynamic pricing, where they’re gonna figure out in real time how much they can get away with charging for a ticket. The tickets can be resold on an official FIFA platform with no price cap. That means you can buy a ticket for $60 and sell it for $6,000.”<\/p>\n

“What this all means is the biggest sporting event in the world is happening in your backyard, and you’ll be priced out of it.”<\/p>\n

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Venues: MetLife, hosting the final plus seven additional games, is one of 16 venues across 11 U.S. cities, three in Mexico and two in Canada.<\/p>\n

\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 MetLife Stadium (East Rutherford, NJ)<\/p>\n

\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 AT&T Stadium (Arlington, TX)<\/p>\n

\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 Arrowhead Stadium (Kansas City)<\/p>\n

\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 NRG Stadium (Houston)<\/p>\n

\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 Mercedes-Benz Stadium (Atlanta)<\/p>\n

\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 SoFi Stadium (Inglewood, CA)<\/p>\n

\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 Lumen Field (Seattle)<\/p>\n

\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 Levi’s Stadium (Santa Clara, CA)<\/p>\n

\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 Lincoln Financial Field (Philadelphia)<\/p>\n

\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 Gillette Stadium (Foxborough, MA)<\/p>\n

\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 Hard Rock Stadium (Miami)<\/p>\n

\ud83c\uddf2\ud83c\uddfd Estadio Azteca (Mexico City)<\/p>\n

\ud83c\uddf2\ud83c\uddfd Estadio BBVA (Monterrey)<\/p>\n

\ud83c\uddf2\ud83c\uddfd Estadio Akron (Guadalajara)<\/p>\n

\ud83c\udde8\ud83c\udde6 BC Place (Vancouver)<\/p>\n

\ud83c\udde8\ud83c\udde6 BMO Field (Toronto)<\/p>\n

Looking ahead: If you miss out on the Visa presale, you can try again during the early ticket draw (Oct. 27-31), final draw (Dec. 5), random selection draw (mid-December) or hope to get lucky with last-minute sales.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcfa Watchlist: Thursday, Sept. 11\"(Patrick<\/p>\n

(Patrick McDermott\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

\ud83c\udfc8 Commanders at Packers | 8:15pm ET, Prime<\/p>\n

The first “Thursday Night Football” game of the season on Prime is a good one, with two NFC contenders squaring off at Lambeau Field after both took care of business with convincing wins in Week 1.<\/p>\n

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\ud83c\udfc0 WNBA regular-season finale | 8pm, NBA<\/p>\n

All eight playoff spots have been secured<\/a> entering the final night of the WNBA regular season, but seeding is still up for grabs in tonight’s four-game slate: Liberty at Sky (8pm, NBA); Mercury at Wings (8pm, League Pass); Valkyries at Lynx (8pm, NBA); Aces at Sparks (10pm, NBA).<\/p>\n

More to watch:<\/p>\n

\ud83c\udfc8 NCAAF: NC State at Wake Forest (7:30pm, ESPN) \u2026 The Wolfpack are 7-point favorites on the road. Both teams are 2-0.<\/p>\n

\u26f3\ufe0f PGA: Procore Championship (10am, ESPN+; 6pm, Golf) \u2026 10 of the 12 members of the U.S. Ryder Cup team<\/a> tee it up at Silverado Resort in Napa, California.<\/p>\n

\u26f3\ufe0f DP World Tour: BMW PGA Championship (7am, Golf\/Peacock) \u2026 11 of the 12 members of the European Ryder Cup team<\/a> tee it up at Wentworth, just west of London.<\/p>\n

Today’s full slate.<\/a><\/p>\n

\ud83c\udfc0 NBA trivia\"(Christina<\/p>\n

(Christina Pahnke\/Corbis via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Germany (over Slovenia) and Finland (over Georgia) advanced to the EuroBasket semifinals<\/a>, where they join Turkey and Greece.<\/p>\n

Germany (Dirk Nowitzki) and Greece (Giannis Antetokounmpo) are two of the six non-U.S. countries to produce an NBA MVP.<\/p>\n

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Question: Can you name the other four countries?<\/p>\n

Hint: Three different continents.<\/p>\n

Answer at the bottom.<\/p>\n

\u26be\ufe0f 1-1-1\"(X)\"<\/p>\n

(X)<\/p>\n

Hey, that’s pretty cool!<\/p>\n

Rare sighting: Paul Skenes and Henry Davis are the first-ever pitcher\/catcher battery comprised of No. 1 overall picks, and they’ve now faced seven fellow No. 1 picks together, all this season:<\/p>\n

Jackson Holliday, BAL (No. 1 in 2022)<\/p>\n

Spencer Torkelson, DET (2020)<\/p>\n

Mickey Moniak, COL (2016)<\/p>\n

Dansby Swanson, CHC (2015)<\/p>\n

Carlos Correa, MIN (2012)<\/p>\n

P.S. \u2026 As a diehard Orioles fan (it’s been a rough year), I’m obligated to tell you that we won this game, 2-1, in the 10th inning on rookie Dylan Beavers’ first career walk-off<\/a>, and that this was our fourth walk-off win in our last five games. Go O’s.<\/p>\n

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P.P.S. \u2026 Skenes (5 IP, 2 H, 8 K) was brilliant once again. He’s now started 53 MLB games and allowed a grand total of 67 earned runs. His ERA as a rookie: 1.96. His ERA as a sophomore: 1.92. It’s completely ridiculous.<\/p>\n

Trivia answer: Canada (Steve Nash, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander), Serbia (Nikola Joki\u0107), Cameroon (Joel Embiid), Nigeria (Hakeem Olajuwon)<\/p>\n

We hope you enjoyed this edition of Yahoo Sports AM<\/a>, our daily newsletter that keeps you up to date on all things sports. Sign up here<\/a> to get it delivered to your inbox every weekday morning.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Yahoo Sports AM is our daily newsletter that keeps you up to date on all things sports. Sign…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":136311,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[436],"tags":[74023,15290,7676,74025,1515,49,48,3985,8840,74026,490,31163,74022,8228,1526,14728,1502,19166,514,12105,504,1498,1491,15091,69803,6691,3998,82,74024],"class_list":["post-136310","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-alison-crowther","tag-aroldis-chapman","tag-astros","tag-basketball-players","tag-bryce-harper","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-carlos-correa","tag-clippers","tag-dansby-swanson","tag-detroit-tigers","tag-expansion-teams","tag-fresno-state","tag-giannis-antetokounmpo","tag-joel-embiid","tag-kawhi-leonard","tag-mets","tag-mickey-moniak","tag-nfl","tag-packers","tag-paul-skenes","tag-phillies","tag-red-sox","tag-royce-lewis","tag-san-jose-state","tag-shai-gilgeous-alexander","tag-spencer-torkelson","tag-sports","tag-welles-crowther"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136310","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=136310"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136310\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/136311"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=136310"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=136310"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=136310"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}