Quote:
Originally Posted by Robert Goodman
It's not really clear. Both NCAA & Fed treat kicking out of bounds as a foul, and list the option of R scrimmaging a fixed distance from the previous spot alongisde possible penalties, but write that clause in such a way as to cast doubt that it's a distance penalty. (We had someone here recently invoke the "fundamental" that there are only 5-, 10-, and 15-yd. penalties.) Nevertheless, I think this should be treated as a previous spot penalty enforcement option, and therefore half the distance whenever that'd be less than the distance otherwise specified. That consider'n would (heh) kick in anywhere inside the 50 in Fed, and anywhere outside K's 40 in NCAA.
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Luckily, none of this opinion is in the rules.
The "take the ball 30 yards from the kick" is not a penalty walk off - it's an option of where you want to take possession designed to prevent constant re-kicks on deep out of bounds kickoffs. Without this option, R's only real option when a kick went OOB at the 5 is to make them rekick.