<P> The line where the ball is placed for kickoff varies among the rule books . It is placed on the kicking team 's 30 - yard line in six - man football , 35 - yard line in college and professional outdoor football , 40 - yard line in American high school football , 45 - yard line in amateur Canadian football , and the goal line in indoor and arena football . For the 2016 season only , the Ivy League placed the ball on the 40 - yard line in conference games . All players on the kicking team except the kicker ( and , if used , a holder ) must not cross the line at which the ball is placed until the ball is kicked . The receiving team must stay behind the line that is 10 yards from where the ball is placed . The ball can be fielded by the receiving team at any point after it has been kicked , or by the kicking team after it has traveled 10 yards or has been touched by a member of the receiving team . In American football ( but not Canadian ) touchback and fair catch rules apply to the kicked ball . If it is fielded by the kicking team , it is called an onside kick . A low , bouncing kick is called a squib kick . Although a squib kick typically gives the receiving team better field position than they would if a normal kick had been used , a squib kick is sometimes used to avoid giving up a long return , as well as use up a valuable amount of time on the clock , as it is impossible to fair catch such a kick . It is usually done when a team takes the lead in the final seconds , and is done to safely run out the remainder of the clock . Squib kicking with more than 20 seconds remaining has had unfortunate results ( a line drive kick is more common when there are 20 to 50 seconds remaining ; the typical hurry - up offense drive takes over a minute ) , but has been done by some teams . </P>
<P> The line where the ball is placed for kickoff varies among the rule books . It is placed on the kicking team 's 30 - yard line in six - man football , 35 - yard line in college and professional outdoor football , 40 - yard line in American high school football , 45 - yard line in amateur Canadian football , and the goal line in indoor and arena football . For the 2016 season only , the Ivy League placed the ball on the 40 - yard line in conference games . All players on the kicking team except the kicker ( and , if used , a holder ) must not cross the line at which the ball is placed until the ball is kicked . The receiving team must stay behind the line that is 10 yards from where the ball is placed . The ball can be fielded by the receiving team at any point after it has been kicked , or by the kicking team after it has traveled 10 yards or has been touched by a member of the receiving team . In American football ( but not Canadian ) touchback and fair catch rules apply to the kicked ball . If it is fielded by the kicking team , it is called an onside kick . A low , bouncing kick is called a squib kick . Although a squib kick typically gives the receiving team better field position than they would if a normal kick had been used , a squib kick is sometimes used to avoid giving up a long return , as well as use up a valuable amount of time on the clock , as it is impossible to fair catch such a kick . It is usually done when a team takes the lead in the final seconds , and is done to safely run out the remainder of the clock . Squib kicking with more than 20 seconds remaining has had unfortunate results ( a line drive kick is more common when there are 20 to 50 seconds remaining ; the typical hurry - up offense drive takes over a minute ) , but has been done by some teams . </P>
where do you kick off from in nfl
where do you kick off from in nfl
35 - yard line
35 - yard line