rules question.....

[trojandad]

pivotal play at the end of the 2nd qtr....athens had scored, score was 31-14, they had momentum, pinned us back near our goal, 4th down we were punting from our endzone, snap went high, punter tipped it, it hit the ground, he picked it up and punted between 3 athens defenders who were in the process of crunching him, but somehow they didn't touch the ball, in fact while getting hit he still manages to put it almost 50 yds down the field....

the ref called roughing the kicker and you could read the athens coach's sign language, saying if the ball hits the ground and THEN he punts it, roughing can't be called......there didn't seem to be an argument on whether the athens boys tipped the ball (and i don't know how, cause they were tackling him and you see this foot poke out and kick the ball).....the coach's contention was about the ball hitting the ground before the kick nullifying the roughing call......

i don't know the correct call, but as a former qb my mind went to the fact that if the qb drops the ball then throws it and gets roughed, its still a valid roughing call......thats the only thing i knew to compare it to.....

the roughing call gave us a first down, the next play we completed a 50 yd pass to gilbert and, though we didn't score, athens really was starting to gain momentum before that and didnt get it back......

does anyone know the correct ruling.....or have an opinion?

[3afan]

TexMike ???

[TexMike]

The ball hitting the ground means nothing in our game. I do think there is a NFL rule that says once it hits the ground there is no such thing as roughing. In our game, if the kicker has a chance to reestablish himself and it is obvious he is going to kick he gets protection. All that being said, if he is hit before actually kicking the ball it is NOT a foul as he is NOT a kicker by rule until he has kicked.

[BaseballUmp]

Yea happened against us last week versus East Chambers. Bad snap and the kicker picked it up ball untouched but got a roughing the kicker call

[trojandad]

Originally posted by TexMike
The ball hitting the gropund means nothing in our game. I do think there is a NFL rule that says once it hits the ground there is no such thing as roughing. In our game, if the kicker has a chance to reestablish himself and it is obvious he is going to kick he gets protection. All that being said, if he is hit before actually kicking the ball it is NOT a foul as he is NOT a kicker by rule until he has kicked.

it was a bang bang play, three athens players were hitting him from the waist up and knocking him backwards as his foot was kicking the ball.....the backwards momentum made it more amazing he got that kind of distance on it.....

the athens coach was beating the ground with his hand repeatedly as he was arguing the call, so it didnt appear he was arguing the timing of the kick with the hit, which made all of us on the coldspring side asking ourselves if he had a point about the ball dropping.......

[TexMike]

Not unusual for a coach not to know some of the finer points of the rules. And sometimes they are right but for the wrong reason. ;)

[trojandad]

Originally posted by TexMike
Not unusual for a coach not to know some of the finer points of the rules. And sometimes they are right but for the wrong reason. ;)

thats what i needed, thanks, big guy......

[YTBulldogs]

Also remember, had one of those 3 defenders blocked the punt, and his bud next to him cremes the punter, it's roughing the punter. Only the one who blocks the punt/kick, is allowed to contact the punter/kicker.

Sometimes coaches/fan's thinks he is free game if the punt/kick is blocked/touched.

[Additup]

"reestablishes himself as kicker" allows for a lot of opinion. Never have liked it.
The NFL's "ball touches ground" sounds easier and more consistant to enforce.

[TexMike]

We may be headed that way. The change that said once the punter carries the ball outside the tackle box he no longer gets roughing protection makes me think the rules on roughing are going to be loosened up even more