re: How horrible would removing kickoffs be?

I Googled the definition of "kickoff." Aside from the football definition, this is what I came up with:

informal
a start of an event or activity.
synonyms: beginning, start, commencement, launch, outset, opening

Given this definition, why not just eliminate kickoffs after touchdowns and field goals? Keep the kickoffs to begin the game and to begin the second half, but eliminate them everywhere else. That way, there are only two kickoffs each game. After a touchdown or field goal, what exactly are you "kicking off"? The game already started. Not to mention, it would be really awkward, in the midst of all the pregame hype and the blaring sound system(s), to actually begin a game with a fat old man running to place the ball on the 30. Sky the damn ball, to signify a great beginning!

I don't think eliminating kickoffs entirely from the game is a really great idea, but honestly, I might actually prefer it if kickoffs were limited to just two per game. Additionally, given the injury data from kickoffs and the looming presence of the NCAA's legal liability; this seems like a matter of when rather than if. Kickoffs will be pared back in some form or fashion. It might take two years, five years, or ten, but it will happen.

Despite my stance on kickoffs, I will say this: keep the onside kick. They happen so infrequently that I don't see their presence in the game as a problem.

The kickoff is one of the most exhilarating elements of of football. It is violent, it is primal, and it evokes the barbarian nature of an epic fight scene in battle: two imposing forces running at each other at full speed clashing with all intents and purposes (see what I did there) to destroy their opposing foe. Think Braveheart, think Gladiator, think Game of Thrones.

I get it, blah blah blah - player safety. Yes, probably good to limit concussions, but c'mon, the kickoff is the essence of why we love football, and why it is the #1 sport in America today.