# Hitting the punter (NFL rules) **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [November 4, 2008, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitting-the-punter-nfl-rules/471173 "2008-11-04T23:34:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![cmosdes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@cmosdes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmosdes)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2008, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitting-the-punter-nfl-rules/471173/1 "2008-11-04T23:34:50Z")
When does it become legal to hit the punter? Immediately after he has kicked the ball if a receiving team player runs into him it is either a 5 yard or 15 yard penalty. But at some point the receiving team has the ball and the punter might actually try to make a tackle and, I’m assuming, it is now legal to block him. When is that transition? ---
**Author:** ![Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d9b06d/32.png) [@Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boozahol_Squid_P.I)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitting-the-punter-nfl-rules/471173/2 "2008-11-05T01:08:12Z")
As long as the ball isn’t in possession of either team, the punter is still considered a kicker, and is immune from intentional contact. ---
**Author:** ![cmosdes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@cmosdes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmosdes)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitting-the-punter-nfl-rules/471173/3 "2008-11-05T03:49:23Z")
> [@Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](#): > > As long as the ball isn’t in possession of either team, the punter is still considered a kicker, and is immune from intentional contact. So once the other team has possession the kicker is free game? Any idea where I can find that in the rules? ---
**Author:** ![Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d9b06d/32.png) [@Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boozahol_Squid_P.I)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitting-the-punter-nfl-rules/471173/4 "2008-11-05T14:15:23Z")
> [@cmosdes](#): > > So once the other team has possession the kicker is free game? Any idea where I can find that in the rules? Check the NFL Rules on the section ‘Kicking from Scrimmage’ ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitting-the-punter-nfl-rules/471173/5 "2008-11-05T15:04:09Z")
What if the punted ball isn’t fielded but allowed to roll and still hasn’t come to a stop? The punter well may be running downfield but the ball isn’t in the other team’s posession. What then? Surely he can’t be allowed to hit without being a target himself. ETA: Hmmm… it says “unless contact is caused by the kicker’s own motions”. Maybe that covers it. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitting-the-punter-nfl-rules/471173/6 "2008-11-05T15:49:35Z")
The NFL doesn’t publish its complete rule book, which makes it difficult to answer questions. The college rule is (9-4-a-5) “The kicker of a scrimmage kick loses protection as a kicker when he has had a reasonable time to regain his balance.” I believe the pro rule is similar, if not identical. Despite the rule, there’s a fairly strong ethical standard that you don’t blast punters unless they’re really trying to make a tackle. Nobody wants to get their own punter clocked in retaliation. ---
**Author:** ![aktep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f0a364/32.png) [@aktep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aktep)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitting-the-punter-nfl-rules/471173/7 "2008-11-05T17:40:28Z")
Oddly enough, NFL 12.2.6 does not address when the kicker stops being a “kicker” > [@2006 NFL Rules](#): > > Article 6 No defensive player may run into or rough a kicker who kicks from behind his line > unless such contact: > ( a) is incidental to and after he has touched the kick in flight; > ( b) is caused by the kicker’s own motions; > ( c) occurs during a quick kick; > ( d) occurs during a kick or after a run behind the line; > ( e) occurs after the kicker recovers a loose ball on the ground; or > ( f) is caused because a defender is blocked into the kicker 6.2.5, which refers to running into a kicker on kickoffs, says you can hit him after he regains his balance. > [@2006 NFL Rules](#): > > 1. Running into the kicker by the receiving team before he recovers his balance is a 5-yard penalty. In equity, I imagine this is applied to scrimmage kicks as well. ---
**Author:** ![mske](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ccd318/32.png) [@mske](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mske)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitting-the-punter-nfl-rules/471173/8 "2008-11-05T19:29:57Z")
Little trivia - in the CFL, if punter can field his own kick, his team retains possession. So the receiving team has to block the punter. ---
**Author:** ![Hi\_Neighbor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hi_neighbor/32/494_2.png) [@Hi\_Neighbor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hi_Neighbor)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitting-the-punter-nfl-rules/471173/9 "2008-11-05T20:13:01Z")
I can’t access YouTube here at work, but there is a clip of a Philadelphia Eagles punter getting absolutely drilled. It was a legal block, but the commentators found the hit to be in very bad taste. If someone can please find the link and post it, great. If not, I will when I get home. ---
**Author:** ![Hi\_Neighbor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hi_neighbor/32/494_2.png) [@Hi\_Neighbor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hi_Neighbor)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitting-the-punter-nfl-rules/471173/10 "2008-11-06T01:14:10Z")
Here we go: [Punter Sav Rocca gets blocked into oblivion](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_vYB3walr4&feature=related) ---
**Author:** ![Rysto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@Rysto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysto)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitting-the-punter-nfl-rules/471173/11 "2008-11-06T01:19:19Z")
> [@mske](#): > > Little trivia - in the CFL, if punter can field his own kick, his team retains possession. So the receiving team has to block the punter. The punter, or anyone else onside to the kick, ---
**Author:** ![JSexton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitting-the-punter-nfl-rules/471173/12 "2008-11-08T01:26:59Z")
> [@Hi\_Neighbor](#): > > I can’t access YouTube here at work, but there is a clip of a Philadelphia Eagles punter getting absolutely drilled. It was a legal block, but the commentators found the hit to be in very bad taste. If someone can please find the link and post it, great. If not, I will when I get home. Definitely not a legal block. Helmet-to-helmet contact? That’s the kind of thing that gets not just penalties, but fines later.