A kickoff specialist is a seldom-used position in American

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 and Canadian football

Canadian football

Canadian football is a form of gridiron football played exclusively in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete for territorial control of a field of play long and wide attempting to advance a pointed prolate spheroid ball into the opposing team's scoring area...

. Kickoff specialists are members of the special teams. They are responsible to kick the ball in the kickoff

Kickoff (American football)

A kickoff is a method of starting a drive in American football and Canadian football. Typically, a kickoff consists of one team – the "kicking team" – kicking the ball to the opposing team – the "receiving team"...

. These players tend to have a strong leg, often capable of making touchbacks, and capable of keeping a ball in the bounds of the field of play but do not have the accuracy or technique required to be a full time placekicker

Placekicker

Placekicker, or simply kicker , is the title of the player in American and Canadian football who is responsible for the kicking duties of field goals, extra points...

 or punter.

Due to modern roster restrictions, most NFL teams do not elect to have a Kickoff Specialist, and instead use their placekickers (or, less often, punters) on kickoffs. During the 2009 NFL season Rhys Lloyd

Rhys Lloyd

Rhys John Lloyd is an American football placekicker for the New York Giants of the National Football League. He was signed by the Baltimore Ravens as an undrafted free agent in 2005...

 of the Carolina Panthers

Carolina Panthers

The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. They are currently members of the South Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Panthers, along with the Jacksonville Jaguars, joined the NFL as expansion...

 and David Buehler

David Buehler

-Dallas Cowboys:He was drafted in the 5th round by the Dallas Cowboys in the 2009 NFL Draft, and the first kicker taken. He was the first USC kicker to be drafted since Cole Ford in 1995. He handles the team's kickoffs and missed his only field goal attempt in the Cowboys' opening regular season...

 of the Dallas Cowboys

Dallas Cowboys

The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football franchise which plays in the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference of the National Football League . They are headquartered in Valley Ranch in Irving, Texas, a suburb of Dallas...

 are the only players employed solely as a Kickoff Specialist. Likewise, in high school football and most other professional leagues, one kicker handles all three kicking positions. Even college football

College football

College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...

teams usually do not utilize kickoff specialists, despite the much larger rosters at that level.