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Originally Posted by mbcrowder
This is horrible advice. The INSTANT the kicker kicks it, he's protected. Oncoming rushers must know this and have it mind when deciding to commit. By the philosophy above, you'd waive off most RTK's, as most of those players are "already committed".
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This is the exact interpretation that I recieved at the NKOA clinic two years ago. That was the year that the rule for what makes a kicker a kicker was changed. As described to us this was done to make the treatment of a punter the same if he was a traditional or a rugby style punter.
After some discussion, the basic rule of application was to be this. Think of roughing the passer in the same context as roughing the kicker. It doesn't matter if the passer is the QB or another player, the standard of protection is the same. This is the same with rugby versus traditional sytle punters. If you feel that the defender was unable to avoid contact you have no flag (unless its a PF due to the nature of the hit and not the timing).
I applied this standard at a couple JV games last year and decided that it wasn't worth it. Coaches don't understand it and neither do the players. I won't alter the traditional way I protect the kicker until the Federation does a better job of communicating the significant change this defination implies.