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Common variants on the typical kickoff format include the onside kick, in which the kicking team attempts to regain possession of the ball by kicking it a short distance; a touchback, which may occur if the ball is kicked into the receiving team's end zone; or a fair catch, in which a player on the receiving team asks to catch the ball without ...
Teams also kick off after scoring touchdowns and field goals. The ball is kicked using a kicking tee from the team's own 35-yard (32 m) line in the NFL and college football (as of the 2011 season). The other team's kick returner tries to catch the ball and advance it as far as possible.
A fair catch of a punt in American football. A fair catch is a feature of American football and several other codes of football, in which a player attempting to catch a ball kicked by the opposing team – either on a kickoff or punt – is entitled to catch the ball without interference from any member of the kicking team. [1]
On a fair-catch kick, the ball does not have to be snapped, and the kicker can have a bigger running start before kicking the ball. Essentially, it's just like a kickoff attempt but with a holder ...
A valid kickoff must travel at least this 10-yard distance to the receiving team's restraining line, after which any player of either team may catch or pick up the ball and try to advance it (a member of the kicking team may only recover a kickoff and may not advance it) before being downed.
Dan Wetzel, Ross Dellenger and SI's Pat Forde discuss if rematches are bad for college football, react to kick off times for the College Football Playoff, and remember the Pac-12 after its death.
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The kick must be a free kick (a kickoff, or free kick after a safety; in high school football, but not the NFL, the rare fair catch kick can also be recovered onside). The kick must cross the receiving team's restraining line (normally 10 yards in front of the kicking team's line), unless the receiving team touches the ball before that line.