Kick Off

[UKCowboysFan]

Excuse my ignorance, but at a kick off does the ball have to be kicked from the ground?

I wondered if at a restart, rather than a traditional onside kick, whether you could kick off with a drop kick as you can in Rugby.

 

[Yeagermeister]

Excuse my ignorance, but at a kick off does the ball have to be kicked from the ground?

I wondered if at a restart, rather than a traditional onside kick, whether you could kick off with a drop kick as you can in Rugby.

No a kickoff is always done from the ground. After a safety the team has the choice of kicking off or punting (drop kick).

 

[Rogah]

Excuse my ignorance, but at a kick off does the ball have to be kicked from the ground?

I wondered if at a restart, rather than a traditional onside kick, whether you could kick off with a drop kick as you can in Rugby.

I don't think you can punt or drop kick the ball for a normal free kick (kickoff), and I don't see how those would be any easier than the traditional onside kick using a tee.

For normal kickoffs, the team may use a tee (and, obviously, that is what they all do). But for a free kick following a safety, they are not allowed to use the tee which is why most teams will punt the ball after safties. You are allowed to kick the ball "field goal" style after a safety with a guy holding it at its spot.

 

[UKCowboysFan]

OK thanks.

I did wonder why teams didn't try it as I'm sure an onside kick would be much easier to recover if it was a drop kick

 

[UKCowboysFan]

I think you can punt or drop kick the ball for a free kick, but I don't see how those would be any easier than the traditional onside kick using a tee.

If you had a kicker (like the punter) that could get the ball high enough in the air so that your team could get the 10 yds downfield before it came down it would surely make it a 50/50 chance of recovering the kick.

That seems to be much better odds than a traditional kick off

 

[Yeagermeister]

If you had a kicker (like the punter) that could get the ball high enough in the air so that your team could get the 10 yds downfield before it came down it would surely make it a 50/50 chance of recovering the kick.

That seems to be much better odds than a traditional kick off

But if the other team recovers the onside kick they have the ball in very good field position as opposed to kicking it off and getting the ball at the 20 or worse depending on the coverage.

 

[UKCowboysFan]

But if the other team recovers the onside kick they have the ball in very good field position as opposed to kicking it off and getting the ball at the 20 or worse depending on the coverage.

I was only thinking that you could try it in situations where you would normally try an onside kick.

As you say field position would stop you doing in normal circumstances, although if it were a 50/50 shot then coaches may be more inclined to try it at other times. I guess the problem would be that it would be fairly obvious that you were trying it.

 

[joseephuss]

I could have sworn I have seen a tee used for free kicks in college this year following a safety. I thought it was odd and was wondering when they changed the rules for college ball. Then I remembered the officiating sucks in college and they probably have not changed rules, they just failed to make the right call.

 

[Rogah]

If you had a kicker (like the punter) that could get the ball high enough in the air so that your team could get the 10 yds downfield before it came down it would surely make it a 50/50 chance of recovering the kick.

That seems to be much better odds than a traditional kick off

The receiving team could call a fair catch on such a play. The ideal onside kick is for the kicker to do exactly what you suggested, but first kick the ball into the ground as hard as he can so then it goes way high in the air and at least 10 yards downfield. On that type of play, no fair catch may be called.

 

[Yeagermeister]

The receiving team could call a fair catch on such a play. The ideal onside kick is for the kicker to do exactly what you suggested, but first kick the ball into the ground as hard as he can so then it goes way high in the air and at least 10 yards downfield. On that type of play, no fair catch may be called.

I'd like to see the kicker kick it has hard as he can in a straight line so it bounces off the opposing player and back to the kicking team.:laugh2:

 

[Rogah]

I'd like to see the kicker kick it has hard as he can in a straight line so it bounces off the opposing player and back to the kicking team.:laugh2:

That would certainly throw the "ball must go 10 yards" rule out the window

 

[jubal]

And if buehler did it it would put opposing player out of the game with busted ribs or a concussion at least.