Question: do you have to kick the ball forward at kick off

Answer: No, A stipulation that this kick must be towards the opponents' goal existed in the rules from 1883 until 2016. This resulted in kick-offs typically involving two people (as pictured), with one tapping the ball forward and the other passing it back to the rest of the team. Now a team may kick the ball backwards explaining why the kicker may be in the other half of the field when kicking the ball.