Question

A soccer ball is kicked; it comes to rest after rolling through the grass. Why is this not considered a violation of Newton's First Law?

Answer 1

Newton's law states that objects at rest/motion will remain at rest/motion "UNLESS" a force is acted upon it.

So the soccer ball got kicked, and then came to rest. This doesn't state that the soccer ball was still rolling when the force of someone's foot kicked the ball.

Answer 2

The ball was put in motion by the kick (an external force). The fact that it failed to continue in a uniform motion is due to (again) an external force acting on it. This time it is the force of friction. The ball rolling through grass hitting small obstacles can be, in aggregate, represented by a force acting against its direction of motion. This force exists until the ball stops. So, Newton's doing fine.