Kickoff ( gridiron football ) A kickoff is a method of starting a drive in American football and Canadian football . Typically , a kickoff consists of one team – the " kicking team " – kicking the ball to the opposing team – the " receiving team " . The receiving team is then entitled to " return " the ball , i . e . , attempt to advance it towards the kicking team ' s end zone , until the player with the ball is tackled by the kicking team , goes out of bounds , or scores a touchdown . Kickoffs take place at the start of each half of play and any overtime period , and after each scoring play . Common variants on the typical kickoff format include the onside kick , in which the kicking team attempts to regain possession of the ball ; 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 waives his entitlement to attempt a return in exchange for a chance to catch the ball without interference from the kicking team . Additionally , penalties exist for various infractions such as a player violating his position restrictions prior to the kick ( 5 - yard penalty ) , or if the ball goes out of bounds before touching a player ( 20 yards or placed at receiving team ' s 40 - yard line , whichever is farther ) . Award . A kickoff occurs at the start of each half and before each overtime ( in the National and Arena Football Leagues ) . It is also traditionally decided by a coin toss at the beginning of each game carried out by the referee . The visiting team captain calls either heads or tails . The winner of the coin toss elects whether to take first choice in the first half or the second half . The captain with first choice then picks either a team to kick off or an end of the field to defend . The other captain chooses the remaining option . At the beginning of the second half , the two captains choose in the reverse order . If an overtime is required , another coin toss takes place to decide who gets first possession during the overtime . After a touchdown or field goal , the scoring team kicks the ball off to the opposing team . The NFL has a special " free kick " after a safety ; in this situation , the ball is not kicked off the tee but rather punted ( or very rarely , drop kicked ) . ( Normal kickoffs are permitted after a safety in all other levels of Canadian and American football . ) Procedure . The line where the ball is placed for kickoff varies among the rule books . It is placed on the kicking team ' s 30 - yard line in six - man football , 35 - yard line in college and professional outdoor football , 40 - yard line in American high school football , 45 - yard line in amateur Canadian football , and the goal line in indoor and arena football . All players on the kicking team except the kicker ( and , if used , a holder ) must not cross the line at which the ball is placed until the ball is kicked . The receiving team must stay behind the line that is 10 yards from where the ball is placed . The ball can be fielded by the receiving team at any point after it has been kicked , or by the kicking team after it has traveled 10 yards or has been touched by a member of the receiving team . In American football ( but not Canadian ) Touchback and fair catch rules apply to the kicked ball . If it is fielded by the kicking team , it is called an onside kick . A low , bouncing kick is called a squib kick . Although a squib kick typically gives the receiving team better field position than they would if a normal kick had been used , a squib kick is sometimes used to avoid giving up a long return , as well as use up a valuable amount of time on the clock , as it is impossible to fair catch such a kick . It is usually done when a team takes the lead in the final seconds , and is done to safely run out the remainder of the clock . Squib kicking with more than 20 seconds remaining has had unfortunate results ( a line drive kick is more common when there are 20 to 50 seconds remaining ; the typical hurry - up offense drive takes over a minute ) , but has been done by some teams . Penalties . If a receiving player crosses his restraining line before the kick , the ball is to be advanced 5 yards , then re - kicked . If a kicking team player crosses the line at which the ball is placed before it is kicked , the receiving team has the option either to have the kicking team re - kick from 5 yards farther back , or have 5 yards added on to the end of the return . In high school football , the receiving team only has the option to make the kicking team re - kick . If the ball goes out of bounds without being touched by a player , the receiving team can choose either to have the ball moved back 5 yards and re - kicked , to take the ball 25 yards ( 25 yards under National Federation high school rules ) past the spot of the kick ( usually at their own 35 - yard line ) , or to take the ball where it went out of bounds . However , on an onside kick , if the ball does not travel ten yards before the kicking team recovers the ball , they will take a 5 - yard penalty and has the chance to kick another onside kick . If the onside kick goes less than 10 yards again , the receiving team will receive the ball at the spot the kicking team recovered it . However , if the receiving team touches the ball before it goes 10 yards , either team can recover it unpenalized . Kickoff into end zone . Kickoffs entering the end zone are handled differently in American and Canadian rules . In the American game , if the ball goes out of bounds in the receiving team ' s endzone or is recovered and downed in the receiving team ' s end zone , the ball is to be placed at the receiving team ' s 20 - yard line and possession is given to the receiving team ( this is known as a touchback ) . High school football immediately rules the ball dead when the ball crosses the goal line ; the ball cannot be returned from out of the end zone , nor can it be recovered there for a touchdown . In the Canadian game if the ball goes into the end zone and then out of bounds without being touched , the receiving team scrimmages from the 25 - yard line ( no points are scored ) . If the receiving team gains possession of a kickoff in its own end zone and then fails to return it back into the field of play , the kicking teams scores one point , and the receiving team scrimmages from the 35 - yard line . Various forms of indoor football also recognize the single , but the ball must not only cross the end zone , but pass through the uprights ( as in a field goal ) as well . If the kicking team recovers its own kickoff in the end zone in any version of the game ( something that , as previously mentioned , is impossible in high school football ) , it scores a touchdown . Return . To receive a kickoff and set up a kickoff return , the receiving team sets up their players starting from 10 yards back from the point the ball is kicked from . There are usually one or two players positioned deep ( around the goal line ) that will attempt to catch or pick up the ball after it is kicked off by the opposing team ' s kicker . They will then attempt to carry the ball as far as possible upfield , without being tackled or running out of bounds . The other players are to block the kickoff team from getting to their kickoff returner .