Despite watching football most of my life and learning nearly all the rules and conventions (yes, there is a difference between offsides, encroachment, and neutral zone violation, and not all running backs are halfbacks), I’m still not 100% solid on the rules governing punts.
Specifically:
When is it a dead ball? Okay, I know that if a receiver touches the ball but doesn’t field it, it’s a live ball, and if the kicking team takes possession, it’s dead (and the receiving team gets it at that spot). And of course, a punt that goes out of bounds is also dead. I thought that once the ball rolls to a stop, it’s dead, but then why does the receiving team crowd around it and pick it up? Is it possible for the receiving team to recover a stopped ball and run it back?
What, precisely, constitutes a touchback? (This goes back to the first question, BTW.) I’m pretty sure that a dead-stop ball in the end zone is a touchback, but since it’s not a dead ball anywhere else, this is far from certain. I used to think that a ball that hit the end zone at any point was a touchback, but that’s not true either; one time a receiver fielded the ball and ran it all the way back for a touchdown (no one else knew the play was live); it stood. If someone on the kicking team goes after the ball, what part of his body has to be on/over the line before/during/after contact/recovery of the ball to be a touchback? (You can see my confusion here. Incidentally, I noticed that officials are incredibly liberal when it comes to touchback calls. One time I saw a punt go out of bounds AT LEAST a yard away from the goal line, and it was called a touchback.)
Running into the kicker. As I understand it, it’s not called if the defender’s momentum carries him into the punter. Or something. I know I’ve seen instances where there was hard contact but no penalty. Officially, there’s no penalty if there’s a “scramble”, but what exactly constitutes a scramble (location, movement, time, etc.)?
When, exactly, is it legal for someone other than the punter to punt? (There have been a number of quarterbacks over the years, most notably Randall Cunningham, who were also capable punters.) Can it be done beyond the line of scrimmage? After a handoff or pitch? After a forward pass (dumb idea, I know, but I’m covering all the bases here)?
Technically, yes, a receiver could dash through a crowd of kicking team members, recover an untouched punt that had stopped rolling, and attempt to return it (much like the TD you described in #2). That’s why the kicking team crowds around the ball; to keep that from happening as the ball rolls as far downfield as its momentum will take it. Once it comes to a stop, someone from the kicking team touches the ball to down it–if they didn’t, and just walked away, a receiver could still pick it up and return it.
What happens if no one touches it and everyone just stays crowded around a ball that’s stopped rolling? Would they just stand there for however long was left in the quarter? My sense is that the officials would blow the play dead anyway, seeing that neither the kicking team nor the receiving team was making any attempt to advance the ball, under the “forward progress” rule.
When the kicking team downs the ball in the end zone, or an untouched punt exits the endzone under its own impetus, it’s a touchback.
As far as a member of the kicking team batting the ball back out of the endzone, it works pretty much like the sidelines (out of bounds); once you touch the line, or establish a position on or over the line, you’re out of bounds (or in the end zone). You can leap into the air over the line and not be out of bounds (or in the end zone) until you axually come down. So if either the player or the ball establishes a position on or over the goal line, it can’t be batted back out.
Officials shouldn’t be “liberal” in calling touchbacks. If the ball went out of bounds a yard before the goalline, it should have been the receiving team’s ball at the one yard line, not a touchback. The official just messed up.
Running into the kicker is called when the defender’s own momentum carries him into the kicker, and he does not at least partially block the punt. If a defender is blocked into the kicker (ie, contacts the kicker due to momentum imparted by a member of the kicking team), running into the kicker is not called.
Of course, you know that running into the kicker is only a five yard penalty, and not necessarily a first down, while the more blatant roughing the kicker is a personal foul, 15 yards, and an automatic first down. Same goes, though; roughing won’t be called unless the contact is due to the defender’s own momentum.
Any team member can punt, on any down. I also believe it is governed by the same rules as the forward pass (can’t punt past the line of scrimmage; can’t punt after a forward pass, though you can after a handoff or lateral), though I am less sure of that part, as you rarely see a team take a chance on running a reverse punt.
You’re covering all the bases here? Wrong sport, buddy.
That punt return touchdown was, I believe, a Saints-Rams game several years ago. The ball landed near the back of the end zone and bounced backward. Everyone on that field except for that one receiver thought it was a dead ball (even the announcer called it a touchback), and he coasted 102 yards for the score.
Well DKW, it depends which rulebook you’re using. I assume you’re interested in the NFL.
On a punt, the ball isn’t dead until the referee blows the whistle. The ball may come to a stop, but it isn’t dead until the officials say it is. The ball can roll into the endzone and if the receiving team chooses to run it out, it can. If the kicking team touches the ball first past the line of scrimmage, it’s illegal touching and the receivers have the option of taking the ball at that spot or the result of the play. So, once the kickers touch the ball, the receivers can run all over the place with the ball without having to worry about turning it over.
A touchback is declared any time a punt is ruled dead in the endzone or rolls out of the endzone. If the kickers touch the ball at the 1, but it still rolls into the endzone, it’s a touchback. On a kickoff, the ball is live in the endzone, so the receivers have to catch the ball and down it to ensure a touchback. (In college football, you don’t have to, the receivers can just refuse to touch it and they will get a touchback.)
Asked and answered
Anybody can punt, although there are a few instances when you can’t. If you punt the ball and then the receiver catches it and tries to punt it back to you, that’s the illegal. It’s called a return kick and they’re illegal. You also cannot punt the ball once you cross the enter the neutral zone. So you can’t throw a 20-yard pass downfield and then have the guy punt the ball. It’s a five yard penalty from the line of scrimmage.
And you would look stupid.
You can congratulate the punter for punting the ball through the uprights. But put the ball at the 20-yard line.
Of course, if you were playing in Australia, then the official can walk out and make that cool arm motion and give your team however many points that is worth.
Answering #4, there are many plays where a team will set up for a field goal and the holder will “pooch” the ball and try to get it out of bounds near the 1 yard line. You can punt after a a pitch, but not beyond the line of scrimmage(which takes out the forward pass). Oregon State, the terrible team that they are has punted on 3rd down just so the opposing team can’t get a good return on them
No.2, the kicking team gathers around the ball so that they can wait till the ball stops so they get a good spot, if the ball takes a bad bounce, they do whatever they can to touch the ball. But, yes they crowd around it to protect it and get a good spot.
No.1 The ball is dead, when the recieving man is downed(duh) or when the ball goes out of bounds or is touched by the kicking team.
No.3 You can only run into the punter IF you touch the ball. Otherwise people would injure punters every punt and punters are more important than people think.
Sry, about the randomness of the order of answers.
