CHARLOTTE – When it comes to kickoffs this year, the Carolina Panthers know they have a leg up on the competition.

Rhys Lloyd, whom the Panthers kept on the 53-man roster for the sole purpose of booting the football as far as possible on kickoffs, set a modern day NFL record this year for touchbacks in a season the 30 – the most since the league went to the “K-ball” back in 1999.

Three other players finished with 22 this season. The league average for touchbacks this season was 15, so Lloyd out-kicked the competition by a wide margin justifying coach John Fox's decision to give him a roster spot.

The previous NFL high was 24 by Olindo Mare, who did it in 2003 and 2006.

“It’s a good achievement,” Lloyd said Wednesday after practice. “It’s the only record I could have broken this year. It was the only thing on my mind as far as a goal for the season, other than making the Super Bowl, of course. It’s not a big record, but it’s the only one I could have broken, so it’s a good feeling.”

The kickoff was moved from the 35 yard-line to the 30 for the 1994 season.

Since then, Lloyd has the second-most in a season, behind Mitch Berger’s 40 in 1998. In the next season with the introduction of the K-ball Berger’s total dropped dramatically to 13.

The K-ball was instituted by the league to keep kickers from doctoring the football, by various methods, and making it fly farther. The way it works now, new balls are used before each game and specifically marked with a “K” on them. They are used only for kicking off.

That means the balls are often hard, making them tougher to kick.

“They don’t get to work on the balls like they used to before the game and during the game,” Lloyd said. “Back in the day you used to see them beat the heck out of the balls. You used to see them on the sidelines almost working them down with sandpaper, almost. The balls now are pretty much straight out of the wrapper and aren’t always pumped up how they should be.”

And when there is cold weather, as Lloyd experienced in Green Bay and New York in recent weeks, the task of kicking off gets even tougher.

“It’s like cold weather on a tire, it starts affecting it pretty quick,” Lloyd said. “The sweet spot gets smaller and it’s one thing after another. At that point it becomes a point of just making sure you get a good strike on the ball. You can’t really do anything much more than that especially when you go to a place like Green Bay or New York where it’s a little windy too. That doesn’t help. The elements mixed in with a cold ball don’t make for a good combination. But the other team has to deal with the same thing.”

A year ago, the Panthers had only four touchbacks all season – two of those by Lloyd in the season finale, just days after he signed with Carolina on Dec. 24.

Lloyd’s touchbacks obviously helped the Panthers improve their numbers in terms of the opponent’s average drive start this year (the 24.7 yard line), which was third-best in the NFL. Last season the Panthers finished 19th in opponent’s drive start on kickoffs at the 29.

“I was aware of last year’s situation and I’m just glad I helped out this year and hopefully we continue it throughout the rest of the playoffs,” Lloyd said.