# NFL question: Can the punter be the receiver? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** football-nfl\ **Created:** [March 30, 2023, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-question-can-the-punter-be-the-receiver/981894 "2023-03-30T18:46:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2023, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-question-can-the-punter-be-the-receiver/981894/1 "2023-03-30T18:46:07Z")
I just saw a video of a high school game where the punter kicked the ball almost straight up, caught it himself, then made a run for the touchdown. Is this a legal play in the NFL? ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2023, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-question-can-the-punter-be-the-receiver/981894/2 "2023-03-30T18:54:30Z")
No, on a punt, if the kicking team touches it first, it’s considered downed and is the other team’s ball at the spot. Now, if the ball is tipped up into the air by the receiving team, it’s fair game for anyone to grab it and advance it. I think I saw that same video and it may have been touched by the receiving team first. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2023, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-question-can-the-punter-be-the-receiver/981894/3 "2023-03-30T18:56:04Z")
Ah, that explains what happened. Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2023, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-question-can-the-punter-be-the-receiver/981894/4 "2023-03-30T19:01:41Z")
What if you drop kick it? Same rules? ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2023, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-question-can-the-punter-be-the-receiver/981894/5 "2023-03-30T20:57:22Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > No, on a punt, if the kicking team touches it first, it’s considered downed and is the other team’s ball at the spot. Unless it doesn’t go past the line of scrimmage - until then it’s a live ball and anyone can handle it. > [@EllisDee](#): > > What if you drop kick it? Same rules? Once it crosses the line of scrimmage, a drop kick follows the same rules as a field goal attempt. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2023, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-question-can-the-punter-be-the-receiver/981894/6 "2023-03-31T01:14:28Z")
I thought this question was going to ask if, on a fake punt, is the punter an eligible receiver? Suppose the ball is snapped to the upback. Can the punter then run a pattern and catch a pass? Yes, I believe he can. He is a backfield player. He has no more obligation to kick the ball then any other backfield player, and is not obliged to stay behind the line of scrimmage during the play. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2023, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-question-can-the-punter-be-the-receiver/981894/7 "2023-03-31T01:26:47Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > Yes, I believe he can. He is a backfield player. He has no more obligation to kick the ball then any other backfield player, and is not obliged to stay behind the line of scrimmage during the play. I expect that it would be like any backfield player taking an offensive snap and throwing to the QB. We’ve seen that before. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/I-tX36j4REg/maxresdefault.jpg "Eagles "Philly Special" Trick Play In Super Bowl 52") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-tX36j4REg) That sort of play might be trickier on a punt because it’s not usual for a punter to be making audibles, so your guard wouldn’t be down as much, but I imagine it wouldn’t be against the rules. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2023, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-question-can-the-punter-be-the-receiver/981894/8 "2023-03-31T06:48:25Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > I thought this question was going to ask if, on a fake punt, is the punter an eligible receiver? > > Suppose the ball is snapped to the upback. Can the punter then run a pattern and catch a pass? > > Yes, I believe he can. He is a backfield player. Correct. The four backfield players, and the two ends (the player at each end of the seven offensive players who start the play at the line of scrimmage), are all eligible receivers. As the punter is lined up in the backfield, yes, he’s an eligible receiver. The only exception to this is that a back who is “under center” when the ball is snapped – that is, in the position that a non-shotgun quarterback is normally in, with his hands in between the center’s legs – is _not_ an eligible receiver. Any time you’ve seen a quarterback go out for, and catch, a pass, he was in the shotgun, or a similar formation, at the snap. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2023, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-question-can-the-punter-be-the-receiver/981894/9 "2023-03-31T16:32:51Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > The only exception to this is that a back who is “under center” when the ball is snapped – that is, in the position that a non-shotgun quarterback is normally in, with his hands in between the center’s legs – is _not_ an eligible receiver. Any time you’ve seen a quarterback go out for, and catch, a pass, he was in the shotgun, or a similar formation, at the snap. And it’s a weirdly specific rule, something about a “non T-Formation quarterback,” which I am having trouble finding at the moment. I remember seeing some team trying to throw a pass back to the QB and getting penalized for it. It must have been the Bears with Nagy calling one of his crazy plays. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2023, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-question-can-the-punter-be-the-receiver/981894/10 "2023-03-31T16:33:35Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > Unless it doesn’t go past the line of scrimmage Excellent correction! This is also possibly the exact thing that happened in the OPs video. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Sensitive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/58956e/32.png) [@Darth\_Sensitive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Sensitive)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2023, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-question-can-the-punter-be-the-receiver/981894/11 "2023-04-01T21:25:37Z")
That’s my assumption. It’s almost definitely [this play](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/0YTY6FQ7WaM) (couldn’t find a better quality version). Ball never crosses the LOS, so everything is legal when Team A recovers it. They can run (most likely), pass (probably a bad idea due to linemen going downfield), or kick again. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2023, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-question-can-the-punter-be-the-receiver/981894/12 "2023-04-02T03:49:46Z")
> [@Darth\_Sensitive](#): > > It’s almost definitely [this play](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/0YTY6FQ7WaM) (couldn’t find a better quality version). That is the video I am referring to in the OP, yes.