Steelers’ Gunner Olszewski on new kickoff rules: ‘People in lab coats changing our game’
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At one point during Thursday on the field at UPMC Rooney Sports Complex, Gunner Olszewski ran through a literal gauntlet of padded bars before a coach with a boxing glove literally threw a punch toward him.
And this was a mere warm-up drill. During an unpadded practice. Three months before the season. At minicamp.
“You can’t un-dangerous the game of football, in my opinion,” Olszewski said after Pittsburgh Steelers minicamp wrapped up Thursday. “It’s football. We know what we sign up for.”
As such, Olszewski is among a cadre of NFL players and coaches whose livelihood is special teams who are upset with the new league rule that allows fair catches on kickoffs.
The idea is to limit returns, which have been deemed as plays more likely to lead to a concussion.
“Personally, I don’t like hearing guys who don’t sound like they understand football making decisions on our game,” said Olszewski, a former All-Pro return man. “The PA (players’ union) doesn’t give us a chance to vote on anything like that. The rule is the rule. I’m not looking to complain about it. I hate it. I think it stinks for guys who are (special) teamers and guys who try to go out and get jobs and make a name for themselves. They’re taking chances away from us.”
Olszewski, who repeatedly referred to those who pushed for the rule change as “lab coats,” made his comments two days after Steelers special teams coordinator Danny Smith made his own feelings known on the NFL’s policies that are in response to lawsuits over concussions and calls from some to more emphasize player safety.
The league cited data that concussions are more likely on kickoffs than any other play, but Smith said some of the concussions attributed to kickoffs were suffered on previous plays. One of the NFL’s most tenured special-teams coaches, the 69-year-old Smith was prominent among a group of special teams coaches who lobbied the league that the fair-catch rule was a mistake.
Many have speculated that in response to the rule, teams kicking off might now be more likely to use a squib kick, which could be less safe for players than a traditional kickoff.
“The ‘lab coats’ are changing our game,” Olszewski said. “They never played football, and now they’re making decisions for us. It feels wrong. And it feels like we have no power. The owners voted on it. Those guys are deciding how we play now.
“I think we definitely need to have more of a voice, not just special teamers but players in general. They’re trying to change our game. For us — the current players — not to have a say is wrong.”
The rule, which gives the receiving team possession at the 25-yard line for a fair catch behind that line, is for 2023 only and will need to be approved next offseason to carry into the future.
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