Why NFL has banned surprise onside kicks as part of league's new kickoff rule

One of the most electrifying plays in the game is no more

By John Breech Jul 31, 2024 at 10:51 am ET• 2 min read

The NFL's new kickoff rule is going to have one major casualty this year and that's the surprise onside kick. 

When the NFL's 32 owners approved the new rule in March, the only way they could make it work is if they agreed to get rid of the surprise onside kick, and that's exactly what happened. Under the new rule, teams will still be able to attempt an onside kick in certain circumstances, but it will be impossible for teams to catch their opponent off-guard with a surprise onside kick. 

So why is the surprise onside kick now effectively banned? Let's go over that. 

Under the new kickoff rule, the kicker will line up at his own 35-yard and have to kick the ball into the return team's landing zone. If you're not familiar with that term yet, the landing zone is the part of the field that's between the receiving team's goal line and the receiving team's 20-yard line. 

Since the kickoff HAS to make it to the receiving team's 20-yard line to be considered in play, that means there will be no way to do a surprise onside kick. If a kicker actually tried to do that, the kickoff would be considered out of bounds and the receiving team would get the ball at their own 40-yard line or wherever the ball stopped.