[teejers1]

You can fair catch a kickoff in the NFL, but you get possession at the spot of the catch. The NFL didn't adopt the fairly recent college rule change that makes a kickoff fair catch inside the 25 a touchback. That was the question.

I don’t think you can fair catch a squib kick. Anymore than you could fair catch an on side kick.  You certainly can grab it and stay down , giving yourself up.

Of course a successful fair catch requires catching the kick before it hits the ground. So a typical squib or attempted onside kick won't be fair catchable because the kicker tries to make it bounce off the ground right away.

You may be right on kickoffs.

But I'm pretty sure on a punt, the returner can signal for a fair catch, and then catch it after one bounce.  Down right there.  Clock stopped.  I just assumed the same could apply to kickoffs, though Lex's point about onsides kicks is a good one.

[teejers1]

You can fair catch a kickoff in the NFL, but you get possession at the spot of the catch. The NFL didn't adopt the fairly recent college rule change that makes a kickoff fair catch inside the 25 a touchback. That was the question.

I don’t think you can fair catch a squib kick. Anymore than you could fair catch an on side kick.  You certainly can grab it and stay down , giving yourself up.

Of course a successful fair catch requires catching the kick before it hits the ground. So a typical squib or attempted onside kick won't be fair catchable because the kicker tries to make it bounce off the ground right away.

You may be right on kickoffs.

But I'm pretty sure on a punt, the returner can signal for a fair catch, and then catch it after one bounce.  Down right there.  Clock stopped.  I just assumed the same could apply to kickoffs, though Lex's point about onsides kicks is a good one.