Last night's "one-point safety" in the Fiesta Bowl again reminded me that I hate kicking in football.

The kicking rules are ridiculously convoluted and unnecessary.

Simply put, the ball should be dead as soon as the PAT kick is blocked. Period.

And whoever came up with the "defensive extra point" rule should be excommunicated from football.

For the uninitiated, that rule (in college football only) gives the defesnse two points if they return a blocked PAT all the way to the opposite goal line. They also get two points if they get an interception or fumble return all the way during a two-point conversion attempt.

This rule is an absolute disgrace and needs to be eliminated as soon as possible, as does the "one point safety" rule (which apparently existed previous to the defensvie extra point rule).

In fact, all kicking rules need to be simplified. No player or coach knows all those rules, especially in the heat of the moment on the field. I'm willing to bet most officials don't even know all the rules.

I often fantasize about eliminating ALL kicks and punts from football. Short of that, we should at least eliminate all the quirky rules that many times can screw teams out of points or wins (remember the Cowboys-Dolphins Thanksgiving Day debacle).