"Lord, don't ever phone me the day after a game. I'll either be still getting drunk or lookin' for bail. When you're on a suicide team like I am, you don't wait till next week to start living."
-Mike Battle, New York Jets kick returner
To start a football game, or to restart the game after either team has scored, there is a kickoff. The teams face each other from their respective sides of the field and one team kicks the ball to the other. The other team catches the ball and tries to run up the field as far as they can. The kicking team tries to stop the runner by knocking him to the ground. The "receiving" team tries to protect the runner with the ball by blocking or pushing the other team's players out of his/her way. Once the runner is tackled to the ground, or runs out-of-bounds, regular play begins.
Because both teams send eleven players running with all their might at each other, kickoffs can often be very intense.
(Note: in the OFL there is no tackling. The runner is stopped ("downed") when the opposing team touches him/her with two hands. This is called "tagging" the runner.)
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