Editing Onside kick (section)

== Alternatives to onside kicks ==
The [[Alliance of American Football]], which played a [[2019 AAF season|partial season in 2019]], eliminated all kickoffs, including onside kicks. The AAF's substitute for onside kicks was an "onside conversion", essentially an attempt to convert a 4th-and-12. This was allowed in only two situations:
* Five minutes or less remained in the fourth quarter, or
* The team attempting the conversion was trailing by at least 17 points.
After scoring a touchdown, a team could opt to try an onside conversion from its own 28-yard line. After giving up a safety, a team could opt to try an onside conversion from its own 18-yard line. In both cases, the team had to gain at least 12 yards on that play to maintain possession. Otherwise, the opponent gained possession at the final spot of the play.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/25900439/everything-need-know-first-alliance-american-football-season |title=Everything you need to know about the first Alliance of American Football season |first=Michael |last=Rothstein |website=ESPN.com |date=February 8, 2019 |access-date=February 13, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Munz|first=Jason|url=https://www.commercialappeal.com/story/sports/2019/02/07/aaf-introduce-sky-judge-rule-changes-alliance-football-charlie-ebersol-hines-ward-bill-polian/2783393002/|title=Sky judge and the world of tomorrow: A look at the AAF's notable rule differences|newspaper=[[The Commercial Appeal]] |location=[[Memphis, Tennessee|Memphis, TN]] |date=February 7, 2019 |access-date=February 7, 2019}}</ref>

The [[Denver Broncos]] proposed adding a slightly modified version of the AAF's onside conversion rule to the NFL rules for the [[2019 NFL season]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.azcentral.com/story/sports/2019/03/15/how-aaf-has-inspired-nfl-team-change-onside-kick-rules/3156886002/|title=How the AAF has inspired an NFL team to propose changing onside kick rules|first=Nathaniel|last=Fain|work=The Arizona Republic|date=March 15, 2019|access-date=March 19, 2019}}</ref> The Broncos' proposal would make the attempt a 4th-and-15 from the attempting team's 35-yard line. Additionally, this proposal would have allowed each team to run this play only once per game, and only in the fourth quarter. When first proposed, the NFL's competition committee voted 7–1 in favor of the change, but it failed to receive the required two-thirds majority approval from the league owners at their March 2019 meeting. The proposed rule change was revisited at the next NFL owners' meeting in 2020 but was not approved.<ref name="Breech 2018-11-23"/>

For the [[2020 Pro Bowl]], the NFL announced a special onside conversion rule, essentially using the Broncos' proposal above, except the 4th-and-15 is attempted from the team's own 25-yard line.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/28530361/nfl-experiment-alternative-onside-kick-pro-bowl |title=NFL to experiment with alternative to onside kick at Pro Bowl |first=Kevin |last=Seifert |website=ESPN.com |date=January 21, 2020 |access-date=January 21, 2020}}</ref>

[[Fan Controlled Football]], which has no kicking, offers the onside conversion; teams must gain 10 yards from their own 10-yard line.

The [[United States Football League (2022)|2022 version of the USFL]] has kickoffs, but also offers the onside conversion, with teams required to gain 12 yards from their own 33-yard line.