I just played a game where I kicked off the beginning of the game then at the beginning of the second half...not good

Yea, if you start the game and select kickoff, then the other team defers, which means they can take the ball in the second half too.

This is an NFL rule?? WHy would ANYONE ever pick kickoff then?
What DOES defer mean?
I always thought it meant "we defer to the other team". In other words, let them pick. They want to kick at beginning of the game, then let them, if they want to receive, let them receive. Obviously this is not the case. Can you pls explain for me, Brooks?

If you defer you're saving your selection for the second half, in which case the other team takes the ball first normally, but they're not required to... If you pick Kickoff you're not deferring, you've won the toss and decided to play defense first, in which case the other team receives both times. It's rare, and normally a mistake, but I've seen it happen where teams pick kickoff not realizing what they were doing.