[Bob M.]

Originally posted by ase
i am more confuse now. sorry guys

what is the difference between the following two situation

(1) normal kickoff (kicking team just score TD or FG) or free kick, kicker kick it in the air and ball hit the ground on receving side's 15 yard, kicking team down the ball. Result: receving team's possession

(2) normal kickoff (kicking team just score TD or FG) or free kick, kicker kick it short for 15 yards, hit the ground, kicking team down the ball. Result: kicking team's possession

the result are different, but they all kick more than 10 yards and all hit the ground, so what i really want to ask is this in what situation do you apply rule 2 and call it onside kick, and in what situation do you apply rule 1?

thanks again, sorry for being so dumb

REPLY: Let's try to get this straightened out for you. In both of the situations you describe, the kickers can recover the ball and retain (get) possession. Situation #1 is much more likely to occur and is what people typically refer to as an "onside kick." Situation #2 is less likely to occur because the ball is kicked deep where the receivers are much much more likely to get to it first. Since they are aware it's a "free" ball, they will not just let the kickers come down and recover it. They'll pick it up and return it. The situation you described earlier where the receiver is waving his teammates away from a bouncing kick was most likely a scrimmage kick (a punt) where there's no such thing as a "free" ball--unless the receivers touch the kick first.