Kick Off Question

[SWRaider]

I have seen it called different ways:
Kicking team kicks off and the ball only travels 10 yards. Kicking team touches the ball to kill the play.
Is that a penalty? I am I the the assumption there is no flag and the receivers ball 1st and 15 from where the ball is touched dead.

 

[Heb 12:29]

Another kickoff question.

Is either team allowed to initiate contact with the other team on a kickoff before the ball travels 15 yards? I thought the receiving team could initiate contact but the kicking team could not.

 

[cowman52]

Not supposed to block until you are eligible to touch the ball. Problem is was he blocking or standing there. Very seldom called.

Touching before it goes 15 yard is a violation, bean bag, or hat for the older guys, regardless of what happens, receiving team is able to take the ball at that spot.

 

[Heb 12:29]

This is the ruling I found under the NCAA rules:

Eligibility to Block ARTICLE 12.
•No Team A player may block an opponent until Team A is eligible to touch a free-kicked ball. (A.R. 6-1-3-II)
•PENALTY —Live-ball foul. Five yards from the previous spot, or five yards from the spot where the subsequent dead ball belongs to Team B, or from the spot where the ball is placed after a touchback [S19].



This implies that a Team B player can block immediately since he is eligible to immediately touch the ball and this ruling does not even mention that team B player blocking is a penalty.

This is my understanding of the ruling, but the officials at our last game said it was a penalty for the receiving team to block before the ball went 15 yards and they said they consulted the rule book and a veteran official. Is there somewhere else that it says Team B may not block before the ball goes 15 yards?

 

[SWRaider]

Not supposed to block until you are eligible to touch the ball. Problem is was he blocking or standing there. Very seldom called.

Touching before it goes 15 yard is a violation, bean bag, or hat for the older guys, regardless of what happens, receiving team is able to take the ball at that spot.

I know they can take it from the spot, but is it a penalty? 5 yards and re kick or 5 yards added onto the spot?
I assumed it was dead where it is touched and receiving teams ball?

 

[cowman52]

Violation is not a penalty, never.

 

[coach_jshelton]

Violation is not a penalty, never.

From experience, this is an oft-misinterpreted rule.

 

[fencewire]

Working the original question first..

If Team A touches the ball before it goes 15 yards as cowman said, it is a violation that gives Team B the option of taking the ball at the spot of illegal touching.

So, Team A kicks off ball goes 5 yards and A15 picks up the ball at the A35, it would be Team B’s ball at the A35, 1/15. It is not a foul and there is no penalty involved. In fact, if there is an accepted penalty, then the spot of illegal touching goes away. Same as before but the ball goes out of bounds at the B38 after A15 touched the ball without being touched by Team B.. in this case the kick out of bounds would be declined and B would have the ball at the spot of illegal touching as that spot is more advantageous to the receivers than the enforcement of the penalty. If say the ball went OOB at the A36, then the penalty for kick out of bounds would be enforced and B would have the ball 1/15@A31. So you can see there is a difference.

Second question, Team B can come out and initiate a block against the kickers with no penalty, if they do actively come out to block, they lose their protection from the rule quoted above and Team A should not be flagged for engaging a Team B player that initiates contact... however if the Team B player comes out to recover the ball and is not engaging in blocking then he is protected from being blocked until the ball has traveled 15 yards and touches something.

It is a very tough call at times and that is why in NCAA it is reviewable for the touching and recovery of the ball as well as early blocking and is one of the few fouls that IR can “create”.

 

[patriotsfan]

This is Highly Unlikely but what happens if the entire receiving team waves fair catch can the kickoff team not hit them even if they onside it?

 

[Legacy Zebra]

A fair catch signal only affects contact after the catch (or muff if not caught cleanly). A fair catch signal offers no extra protection prior to touching the kick. Everything before the catch is covered by kick catch interference in 6-4-1 and early blocking in 6-1-12.