The kickoff has gone through many changes over the years. Below is a chronology of revisions to the kickoff rules, which were handled by the college rules committee until the NFL adopted its own rulebook in 1932.
The 2018 rules were initially passed for one season only, but made permanent in 2019 .
Contact
1945 Dead ball when recovered after fair-catch signal, unless touched by kicking team 1967 Receiver cannot signal for fair catch and block or initiate contact 1979 Prohibited blocking below the waist 2004 Dead ball when a fair-catch signal is made and caught or recovered by another receiver, unless first touched by kickers 2009 No wedge blocking of 3 or more players 2018 No contact 15 yards from kickoff spot until ball touches a player or the ground 2018 No 2-player blocking by deep players and no 2-man wedge blocks
Formation
1932 Receiving team may line up anywhere 10 yds from kick (NCAA changed this to 5, and NFL kept the original 10) 2006 A minimum of 4 kicking team players must be on both sides of the ball 2009 Kicking team must have on each side of the ball at least 3 players outside the hashmarks including 1 outside the numbers 2011 Kicking team players must be no more than 5 yards behind the ball 2018 Kicking team players must be no more than 1 yard behind the ball and no prekick motion 2018 Kicking team players must have 5 on either side of the ball, at least 2 between hashmarks and numbers, at least 2 outside numbers 2018 Receiving team must have 8 players within the “setup zone” (15-yd zone between 10-25 yards from the ball) 2018 Receiving team cannot exit the setup zone on either side until the ball touches the ground or a player 2021 Receiving team is permitted to have a 9th player in the setup zone at their option
Kickoff spot
1920 40-yard line 1924 50-yard line (1 season only, as a concession for disallowing dirt mounds as natural tees) 1925 40-yard line (53 seasons total) 1926 Safety kicks from the 20-yard line, instead of the offense running a scrimmage play 1st & 10 from their 30 1942 Must be on or inside hashmarks, not in a side zone 1974 35-yard line 1994 30-yard line (17 seasons) 2008 Kickoff must be made at the restraining line, removing an option to place anywhere behind 2011 35-yard line (33 seasons total, as of 2023)
Touchbacks
1926 Kickoff out of bounds in the end zone is an automatic touchback 2016 Touchbacks on kickoffs go to the 25-yard line (for one season only) 2017 Touchback to the 25 extended 1 season 2018 Touchback to the 25 made permanent 2018 An untouched kick is a touchback when it touches the ground in the end zone 2023 A fair catch inside the 25-yard line is a touchback to the 25 (for one season only)
Kickoff out of bounds
1920 An out-of-bounds ball remains live until recovered or deemed unplayable by ground rules 1923 Kicking team may recover a live out-of-bounds ball beyond the goal line extended for a touchdown 1926 Any out-of-bounds ball is no longer live 1937 Receiving team ball at 35 yd line or out-of-bounds spot (previously 5 yds and rekick) 1938 Receiving team ball at 45 yd line and placed on nearest hashmark 1939 If the kick touches the receiving team only, receivers ball at the out-of-bounds spot 1944 5-yard penalty and rekick (unless touched by receivers) 1984 Limit of 1 rekick due to penalty 1987 No rekick, except for onside kicks. Receivers get the ball at the 40-yard line, or out-of bounds spot on rekick 2003 Kicking team does not get a second onside kick chance inside of 5:00 of 4th quarter 2004 Period can be extended for a safety kick out of bounds 2009 Removed the onside kick exception entirely 2011 Receivers ball remains at the 40, but now enforced as 25 yds from kickoff spot (due to kickoff spot change) and 30 yds on safety kicks
Kicking tees
1924 “Natural tees” to elevate the ball with dirt were prohibited, as it was too time consuming; a teammate could hold the ball instead 1932 NFL reinstated the ability to use a natural tee with soil in the proximity of the kick location 1939 A natural tee is permitted to be no more than 3 inches of soil 1948 Flexible artificial tees are allowed 1954 No tee for a safety kick 1983 Natural tees prohibited 1994 1-inch tee height is standardized
Foul enforcement
1941 Dead-ball personal fouls on scoring teams assessed on kickoff 1944 All fouls except for fair-catch interference are a rekick 1976 Fouls on the extra-point attempt against the defense can be assessed on the kickoff 1984 Limit of 1 rekick due to penalty 1993 On fouls by both teams, receivers can decline kickers’ foul and enforce theirs at the post-possession foul spot 2004 Offside can be enforced at the previous spot or the dead-ball spot 2006 Personal fouls and unnecessary roughness during halftime or in intermission before overtime are enforced on next kickoff 2006 All kicking team fouls can be enforced at the dead-ball spot 2009 No rekicks on illegal onside kicks 2010 End of half personal fouls and unnecessary roughness are enforced on next kickoff 2019 Fouls on a touchdown play may be enforced on the conversion attempt, instead of only enforced on the kickoff
Shoes
1942 No detachable kicking toe 1969 Kicking shoes must be of standard production from manufacturer 1977 Kicking shoes for artificial limbs must have the kicking surface of a standard shoe 1986 Kicking shoe requirements clarified
Timing rules
1932 Fair catch is permitted on kickoffs 1990 Game clock runs on ready-for-play after a kickoff, except if <2:00/2nd, <5:00/4th, injury, or TV timeout 1991 Remove the 1990 rule, as clock starts on snap for any possession change 1995 Establish the 25-second clock procedure, winding when ball is handed to kicker and kickoff ready signal at about 10 seconds 2002 Run game clock when the ball touched in the field of play (no 2:00 exception) 2004 Period can be extended for a safety kick out of bounds
Photo: joepopp/Flickr
