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Actually I've had two individuals and two different rules clinics give the same interperation to this rule. The biggest change is that a defender is given more latitude in his persuit of the kicker. In effect the protection afforded a kicker is the same as a passer. If a white hat is of the opinion that contact with the kicker was unavoidable then there is no flag, even if the ball was off and it was not touched by D.
In the past it was the responsibility of the defender to make sure he didn't make contact with the K. If he did and the ball was away, untouched, it was going to either be 5 or 15, no questions asked. Now, when there is contact with the K the white hat has to use the same determination as with a passer if the contact was late or unavoidable by the D.
I think this is a major change and I am concerned that this is such a dramatic shift in the protection afforded a K that most official won't apply the new interpretation.
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