What's with the new NFL coin flip rule?

Question

You can defer to receive the ball at the opening of the second half if you win the coin toss. How is that any different from how it used to be? If you won the coin toss previously, you could choose to kick or receive, and if you kicked, you would receive at the half. I know I'm a girl so please explain thoroughly.

Answer 1

When you defer you're basically saying you'll decide at tha second half so you're letting the other team choose .......... atleast that's what I always understood

Answer 2

If you win the coin toss and defer the decision, it's like saying "hey other team, you can decide if you want to kick or receive, because we want to receive the 2nd half."

Answer 3

There is no new rule, just your understanding of it.

There are basically two things that need to be figured out at the coin toss:

1) Which team will kick and which team will receive the opening kickoff?

2) Which team will defend each side of the field?

The winner of the coin toss has the privilege to choose first in the first half.  The team can, however, defer that privilege to the second half.  If they do, then the team that lost the coin toss will chose first in the first half.

Some people think that teams choose to kick off in the first half, but that is rarely the case.  If Team A makes the first choice in the first half and says "kick", then when Team B makes the first choice in the second half, they'll say "receive."  Then Team B would get an extra chance with the ball.  Usually, if Team A wins the toss and kicks off, it is because they deferred their choice to the second half and Team B wisely chose to receive.  

Answer 4

Second half coin toss: Clubs will now have the option to defer the opportunity to kick or receive the kickoff to the second half.

Answer 5

Teams defer to the second half in the hopes that either the other team's captain will s***w up and choose to kick off, giving the deferring team  the option to recieve in the second half, thus giving them two kick receptions to start the half while the other team get's none.  That rarely happens.