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Question about a Rule Change that I may have missed


Ennjay

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I've noticed more than once in the first two weeks that kickoff returners will let a ball go into the end zone and take the touchback without covering the ball.  At least it used to be the rule that that was a live ball and someone had to down it or the kicking team could recover.  Did they change that rule and I just missed it?

 

And as long as I'm asking:  at one point Sunday CBS picked up Phillips (Jordan) standing next to Phillips (Harrison).  Has everyone done away with first initials on jerseys?  Is there any rule about this?

 

Thanks for serious answers.

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Article 4. Catch or Recovery of a Free Kick

(a) If a player of the receiving team catches or recovers the ball, he may advance.

(b) If the ball is declared dead while in the simultaneous possession of two opposing players, the ball is awarded to the receiving team.

(c) A player of the kicking team may legally touch, catch, or recover the ball if:

    1. It first touches a receiving team player; or
    2. it reaches or crosses the receiving team’s restraining line.
  1. (d)  The ball is dead if
    1. it is caught or recovered by a player of the kicking team. If the catch or recovery is legal, the ball belongs to the kicking team at the dead-ball spot.
    2. it is not touched by the receiving team and touches the ground in the end zone (touchback).
  1. (e) If the ball comes to rest inbounds after reaching the receiving team’s restraining line and no player attempts to possess it, the ball becomes dead and belongs to the receiving team at the dead-ball spot.
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49 minutes ago, BuffaloBillies said:
Article 4. Catch or Recovery of a Free Kick
  1. it reaches or crosses the receiving team’s restraining line.
  2. (e) If the ball comes to rest inbounds after reaching the receiving team’s restraining line ...

 

Thanks for this.  And the restraining line is the line 10 yards from the ball that the receiving team has to stay behind before the ball is kicked, right?

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18 minutes ago, Ennjay said:

 

Thanks for this.  And the restraining line is the line 10 yards from the ball that the receiving team has to stay behind before the ball is kicked, right?

 

Yes. But this one to me is more surprising than the end zone dead ball. So it reads as if the kicking team kicks the ball 31 yards (for instance) and no one on the receiving team attempts to go for it and it just lays on the ground stopped it would be the receiving teams ball from that spot. I guess you're supposed to read that super literally and ball must come to a complete stop in motion ( ball comes to rest )? If the ball is still moving at all it's fair game for the kicking team to recover. I don't think I've ever seen the ball come to complete rest in the field of play on a kickoff where no one on either team touches it.

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3 hours ago, BuffaloBillies said:

 

Yes. But this one to me is more surprising than the end zone dead ball. So it reads as if the kicking team kicks the ball 31 yards (for instance) and no one on the receiving team attempts to go for it and it just lays on the ground stopped it would be the receiving teams ball from that spot. I guess you're supposed to read that super literally and ball must come to a complete stop in motion ( ball comes to rest )? If the ball is still moving at all it's fair game for the kicking team to recover. I don't think I've ever seen the ball come to complete rest in the field of play on a kickoff where no one on either team touches it.

 

The rule includes "and no player attempts to possess it" inbounds (that is, not in the end zone) even after it "comes to rest".  That should never happen -- both teams should be scrambling for an inbounds ball -- but I can imagine a quick whistle being blown when a ref thinks nobody's attempting enough.

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