In football (American and Canadian), the captain of the visiting team traditionally calls the coin toss by choosing “heads” or “tails” after the referee displays the coin.
- Who calls: The visiting team’s captain.
- When: Approximately three minutes before kickoff.
- The process: The referee presents a coin (typically a quarter, though special coins are sometimes used). The visiting team captain calls “heads” or “tails” before the referee tosses it into the air.
- Result: The team that wins the toss gets the option to either:
– Kick off
– Receive the kickoff
– Choose which end zone to defend
– Defer their choice to the second half
- Most Common Choice: After the NFL rule change in 2008 allowing deferring, winning teams most commonly choose to defer their decision to the second half. This grants them the choice to receive the second-half kickoff, potentially allowing for two consecutive scoring opportunities if they score late in the first half.
Does home or away team call coin toss?
Captain. Who out of sportsmanship. Is allowed to make the call the referee could even decide that the home team is heads the away team is tails. Before they flip the coin.
Who gets to call the coin flip?
Good point! Prior to the Referee’s toss, the call of “heads” or “tails” must be made by the captain of the visiting team, or by the captain designated by the Referee if there is no home team. Unless the winner of the toss defers his choice to the second half, he must choose one of two privileges, and the loser is given the other.
Who’s calling the coin toss in the Super Bowl?
Who chooses the Super Bowl coin toss? While the Super Bowl is played at a neutral site each year, there are still “home” and “away” teams. Just like all other NFL games, the away team gets to choose between heads and tails for the opening coin toss.