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

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. 

The last team to pull off a surprise onside kick was the Jaguars, who recovered one against the Chiefs in 2022. 

A play like this will no longer be possible under the new kickoff rule. 

The most famous surprise onside kick came in Super Bowl LIV when New Orleans opened the second half by recovering an onside kick against the Colts. (The Saints would score a TD on the ensuing drive on their way to a 31-17 win.) 

Former Patriots head coach Bill belichick said in April that he was sad to see the surprise kick go. 

"I don't like that they took [out] the surprise onside kick," Belichick told Pat McAfee.  

Although the surprise kick is going way, teams will still be able to attempt an onside kick, but there will be special rules in place for that. 

• Teams can only attempt an onside kick in the fourth quarter. 
• A team can only attempt an onside kick if they're losing. 
• The team must let the officiating crew know that they're planning to attempt an onside kick. 

From there, all standard onside kick rules apply. 

Although the surprise onside kick is gone for now, it could make a comeback. The new NFL kickoff rule is only in place for a one-year trial, and if the league decides to scrap it after 2024, then the surprise onside kick could make a return in 2025.