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N.F.L. Owners Drop Proposed Alternative to Onside Kicks

Roger Steinman/Associated Press

The most feasible — or rather, least unfeasible — means of retaining possession of the football has long been an onside kick, the success of which relies on hope: that the ball travels the necessary 10 yards, that it takes a weird bounce, that it loiters in the air long enough for a member of the kicking team to scurry downfield, box out a defender and grab it.