Why field an onside kickoff?

[portisfan24]

5. The kicking team may never advance its own kick even though legal recovery is made beyond the line of scrimmage. Possession only.

It seems to me that this rule implies that legal recovery can be made past the line of scrimmage, but not advanced.

I'm pretty sure this refers to the case of a muffed kick (kickoff or punt). If the ball hits but is never possessed by a player of the receiving team, the kicking team can recover possession of the ball but not advance the ball further than the spot of the recovery.

Are you sure? It seems like guys advance muffed kicks all the time.

And I think rawdawg is right about the punter recovering his own kick, which is probably why I thought of all this in the first place.