What Is A Touchback In Football? (Full Explanation)

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At the start of both halves and following every score in a football game, one team will kick the ball off to the other.

This is how the ball changes possession in these instances of a football game.

Special teams units are the ones that handle the kickoff and kickoff return duties.

The kickoff team lines up with a kicker in the middle, whose job it is to kick the ball as far as possible down the field.

Then, the rest of the kickoff team will run as fast as they can toward the ball catcher and attempt a tackle them before gaining too many yards.

At the same time, the return team will have a few designated returners lined up deep, with the rest of their special teams unit lined up in front of them.

The unit's job is to protect the kick returner from getting tackled, in the hopes of gaining as many yards as possible.

But sometimes the ball flies far enough that there is no return attempted at all. Instead, the play is dead, and the referee lines the ball up on the return team's 25-yard line.

This is the result of a touchback happening.

Let's take a look at what a touchback in football is, and what exactly happens when one occurs.

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