The Death of the NFL’s Favorite Trick Play

The NFL new Kick off Rules killed the surprise onside and the Surprise onside is easily one of the most fun plays in football.
Follow me on Twitter: @ IsaacPunts

[@IsaacPunts]

What else would you guys like to see the history of? Let me know here and THANK YOU for watching, it means a lot!

[@bembrysburner3068]

The History of the Never-Ending Lateral please!

[@JustaDuckGames]

History of the fake punt or maybe the QB sneak

[@DarrylWPerry1789]

drop kick

[@FAAO1776]

Chris Olave, ohio state vs Maryland I think. Best on side kick I've seen.

[@Superkuh2]

As John Madden would say, "Protect the players but don't take away the game like that." This is terrible.

[@alexvankeulen7171]

No kidding, when I think of football, the first thing that comes to mind: onside kick to yourself

[@focus4791]

@@alexvankeulen7171This gotta be sarcasm

[@ahgflyguy]

Replacing kickoffs with 4th and 10 or 15 from your own 25 or 30 would be great. Safer and allows for lots of sneakiness, AND lots of offense.

[@devinosland359]

​@ahgflyguy you watched the jon bois video too? Lmao, it is a great idea tho, kickoffs are so weird

[@AXEJAYB]

What about it is terrible?

[@queenvrook]

I remember seeing this play very occasionally in the 70's. The problem at the time was that teams attempting an onside kick -- as the Vikings did when they were down against the 49ers late in a playoff game -- the whole team would line up along the kickoff line, then shift over to the side they were kicking to, totally telegraphing the onside kick. I believe it was Curt Gowdy I heard saying that they should just kick without the shift and catch the team by surprise.

[@selfloathinggameing]

To be fair, killing the surprise onside kick has the purpose of revivng kickoff returns. Every kickoff in the Super Bowl was a touchback whereas watching the XFL and UFL has actually made me look forward to kickoffs since they have a real impact on scoring

[@jasoneng3161]

Exactly! People can be sad about the surprise onside, but they are incredibly rare in actual week to week games. This will make kickoffs in EVERY game more fun to watch and not just a snack break.

[@goodmaro]

@@jasoneng3161 Or they could go back to the rules of the 20th Century (or even more recently) and have both.

[@jeffyplushadventures9803]

Not every Super Bowl kickoff was a tocuchback devin Hester of the bears return it on the opening kickoff

[@jason2mate]

As someone who watches this from Australia and just likes all the sports, it kinda surprises me that there wasn't more in the style of Rugby where you could go for a mid range (probably 15-20) high kick to try and get the possession off a jump (with the better momentum on your side) though I guess it probably comes down to not having the time to prep for something like that.

[@scmtx]

If the ball is just kicked in the air the receiver can call a fair catch and be allowed to catch it without interference

[@alexvankeulen7171]

It has to touch the ground

[@psymar]

If you just kick it high the other team will call for a fair catch and you can only get it if they fumble. Teams used to try for a high bounce, but since they've added a rule that you can fair catch a first bounce as well.

[@goodmaro]

No, it comes down to American rules, where the receiving team (for the past century) has to be given opportunity to catch a fly ball; plus, even if the kicking team recovers, the ball is dead. Not so in Canadian rules, where that type of kickoff is still used.

[@monolith2001]

The Falcons had a three onside kick game in 2019 against the Saints. Only two counted due to a bad call for offsides. That was wild.

[@xZOOMORPHICx]

The surprise onside kick and onside kicks in general are some of my favorite plays. The surprise onside kick is very risky, making it extremely exciting. The standard onside kick although only having a 10% chance of working, is still one of the most exciting plays in football. When it works it can kead to a team overcoming a teo score deficit in a very short period of time. It's exciting, plain and simple.

[@zacharyjeffares8158]

Looks like the only kicks that would work now would be “kick on the run” like in Rugby and Aussie Rules, a stinger, and the high hop.

[@psymar]

Comeuppance is not a synonym for revenge, it rather is when doing something to hurt another cycles around to hurt you, regardless of whether it's done by the original victim. If Team A suprise onsides team B, comeuppance is any team hitting a surprise onside against team A.

[@irjake]

Hey Isaac - Inigo Montoya has something to say about your usage of the word comeuppance: "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."

[@jonathanfeldheim6554]

If Andy Reid hadn't done it at Dallas in 2000 who knows if this would ever have become a thing

[@hermanturnip3984]

Can you acknowledge an onside kick in the fourth quarter and then not do it? Just curious. I'm not hip-deep into the new rules. Great introspective into the history of this play.

[@DamonNomad82]

If that is legal to do, I could see it becoming a tactic I would dub the "Cry Wolf". A team always declares onside kicks before every 4th quarter kickoff, but kicks the ball normally most of the time, to put opponents off guard when they actually DO need to try one. If the same thought occurred to the makers of the rule, I suspect that it's probably against the rules...

[@hermanturnip3984]

@@DamonNomad82 Yeah, my thoughts exactly. If allowed to do this I'm sure teams would attempt to use it to their advantage.

[@goodmaro]

The onside kickoff is far older than your research goes. Where to start? In the commonest organized form of football played in the USA before the college students took up rugby, it was specified that the kickoff not be "babied", effectively banning the onside kickoff. But once the colleges took up rugby, there was no minimum distance required for the ball to go forward, so it could just be tapped (a "technical kickoff") and picked up. Once this led to the flying wedge, however, a requirement that the ball be kicked forward 10 yards was adopted in 1895 with the aim of outlawing that play. However, it remained common to chip the ball high and to the side to give the kicking team a chance to recover in the air. The reason there was particular interest in onside kickoffs in 1924 was that in 1923 "opportunity to catch the ball" was introduced for the receiving team in the rules, effectively outlawing in American, but not Canadian, rules the commonest former kind of onside kickoff (the chip to the side). This renewed interest in the style of kickoff where the ball is made to hit the ground (making a catch impossible) before the kicking team player recovers it.

[@fortknox4740]

The Seahawks started doing surprise onside kicks with Efren Herrera in 1978, see the Legend of Efren Herrera for more footage, nice work on this video

[@dboydixon1906]

Man this reminded me of when I got hit with an accedental stinger kick in grade school. I had no time to react and I didn't even know they could do that

[@teo_heel]

What about a surprise onside punt in CFL?

[@tweeterhead2320]

How could you miss the Seahawks onside kick vs the Packers in the 2014 NFC championship ;-;. Such a beautiful game

[@adamtravan3946]

Change is hard. Change is sometimes needed. There will be surprises.

[@KingHarambe_RIP]

With single digit success rates since the last rule change in 2018, the onside kick in general is a dead play now.

[@wompa70]

Woohoo Atlanta on top for a change!!

[@Officer_harding]

Cowboys did it to the falcons in 2020 to finish off that 20 point comeback

[@IsaacPunts]

I love that play, but it was s regular onside, not a surprise one.

[@eddydayvlog]

You left out 2007 bears vs lions in ford field failed onside kick recovered and returned for touchdown by Detroit

[@Kodiakk]

Missed Broncos vs Raiders Week 1 last year

[@Nbgfghfd]

You forgot the Arizona vs Philadelphia one from this year

[@Ghost29303]

The NFL have just tied NASCAR for having the dumbest rules is sports history .

[@williamsanphy3126]

Didn’t Younghoe Koo have like 3 in a game in 2019

[@IsaacPunts]

Not surprise ones

[@innotech]

Every Saints fan 😊

[@jackripper5270]

The on side kick dying is my one dislike of the new kickoff rule ... But i think kick offs will be more entertaining as a whole?

[@arthurmcdermott3312]

They should change to flag football like the all-star game. You know, for players safety. Maybe then more people would watch hockey. Though that's becoming a bit scripted also.

[@bembrysburner3068]

So how does this affect Patrick Mahomes's legacy?

[@arc7gaming]

Is referring to the Panthers as the "special kid" necessary? The Panthers weren't always bad.

[@IsaacPunts]

As a Carolina Native who knows that the Panthers were Superbowl contenders around both times they had surprise onsides pulled on them, yes I like to pick on my team because they're floundering now and it makes me sad.

[@architect011_3]

The NFL does not care about player safety.

[@DarranKern]

I hate the nfl so much

[@philliporsit]

Hire an editor yo

[@handlesareanunfortunatefeature]

Please take away the transitional sound effects. Don't think it adds to the video and it just kinda irks me and I presume at least some other people

[@theclamhammer4447]

Players: Can we please ditch the turf tearing our ACLs? Owners/NFL: We hear your voices and have decided to axe the kickoff process bc we care about player safety.

[@Cooe.]

Two wrongs don't make a right. They are BOTH major health problems. 🤷

[@theclamhammer4447]

@@Cooe. you’re missing the point. One costs real money. Despite the NFL claims about safety they are always choosing saving money over that same player safety they love to virtue signal about.

[@Cooe.]

@@theclamhammer4447 They both cost money. Concussions take players off the field and CTE lawsuits are worse than anything torn ACL's can cause.

[@DamonNomad82]

0:44 The first onside kick I ever witnessed, and the one that made me aware that onside kicks existed, when the Steelers did it in Super Bowl XXX, which was also the first Super Bowl I ever watched all the way through.

[@discgolfwes]

Bird treason is the highest form of treason

[@yeahwersexybeasts]

Agreed

[@joeg5414]

I practice bird law

[@rolmodel12.]

Two things: LOVE the historical content, my guy 😎 And the other: the 2000 Eagles onside vs. Dallas, in Dallas, to open the game (and the season) is also known as The Pickle Juice Game. It was warm and humid all week, and especially that day, and to prepare the Eagles players were drinking pickle juice in the days before and that morning (the vinegar helps flush the body of toxins, the added sodium helps maintain electrolyte balance). And it worked. Philly romped the Cowboys, 41 - 14. The Eagles rushed for over 300yds (Duce Staley topped 200 by himself), held the Cowboys to 167 yds of total offense (Dallas QB's were sacked 5 times, and completed less than 50%... this would end up being Aikman's last year). That game set a tone: the new Eagles were here. After 3 straight terrible seasons, Philly was turning the corner and would be relevant in the NFCE for most of the following decade. I was there and had a blast. Lost my voice. And it's the only time I've seen my beloved Birds play live.

[@chinchintabete]

Duce also dropped a duce in a woman's closet when he played in Pittsburgh!

[@IlIlllIllIlIIIll]

Just give the ball to the scoring team 4th and 10 on their own 25. They can punt, fake punt, or just straight-up go for it.

[@AlexJonesFool]

Dude great video 🫡

[@sbeebs1419]

What you call a “stinger” onside I call a “bitch kick” because as an up man I’ve seen it too many times and it HURTS

[@gannrr]

When the jags did this to the chiefs; a piece of me died inside. Im so sad future fans wont get feel such a heartbreak like i did that day.

[@eddydayvlog]

You left out jets vs bears 2006 failed surprise onside kick

[@vladdydaddy5197]

New Isaac Punts while I make lunch? W

[@koldonn1111]

Did College change the rule too?????

[@thenextsteveblackman]

I'm all for player safety, but if you're going to legislate all the fun out of kickoffs, then maybe just get rid of the play altogether. I forget who came up with this idea, but I heard a KZbinr say we should get rid of the kickoff entirely and replace it with a 4th and 15 for the team that just scored. Then they can either punt the ball away or go for it to try and keep possession.

[@TierNoneOperator]

I feel like that could be exploited to easily. Maybe 4th and 20. Or just do all punts with the option for a fake.

[@thenextsteveblackman]

@@TierNoneOperator Whoever came up with it said the odds of converting a 4th and 15 were roughly the same as converting an inside kick, though with the way offense has improved, that may not longer be the case.

[@yaboyotis]

“Kickoffs Are Stupid And Bad” by Jon Bois of Secret Base

[@ridemywheelie]

Ticky-tac defensive penalties would ruin that.