Quote:
Originally posted by cmathews
James,
No I wouldn't blow it dead when it is clearly out of the action but I might say "hey be careful". The more I thought about your first post I came to this thought though. If he gives a fair catch signal, he is most definitely not expecting to get blasted, and I really don't see any difference, aside from the fact that it is a penalty, in this and taking a knee, or for that matter "hook sliding". In all instances the player with the ball is "giving up" his right to advance the ball in return for protection. I do agree that this is an illegal fair catch there is no doubt about that. I just think that in a case such as this it is best to blow it dead. I personally wouldn't sleep very well if a kid gave an illegal fair catch, turned to hand me the ball and got drilled in the back and injured.... With that said, I don't know that I have ever seen it happen, how many times has anyone else seen it....oh and another thing I usually don't have to worry cause I am up by the LOS as the U  I don't have the books here at work, is there a case book play that addresses the issue at hand??
[Edited by cmathews on Jul 1st, 2003 at 09:52 AM]
|
While not addressed in the casebook or rulebook, it is addressed in the handbook.
In the
Football Handbook, pg. 55 states under the heading, Illegal Fair Catch Signal, "
Since the signal is given after the kick has been caught or recovered, the ball remains live."
As far as fair catch signals go, by rule, a player can't be contacted if he gives a VALID fair catch signal. But, if he gives an invalid fair catch signal, he is allowed to be contacted (although it might be a very short window for that contact to occur). A player who gives an invalid signal is only protected in that the ball becomes dead when he (or a team member) catches it. But he is NOT protected from being contacted if his signal isn't valid.
Lets apply the protection logic to another play. The QB throws an OBVIOUS backwards pass that hits the gound and is rolling around with no whistle. A player (thinking the throw is dead - i.e. he doesn't know the rule) is kind enough to pick the ball up and begins to hand it to you and he is drilled by an opponent. Are we supposed to kill this play to prevent this from happening too?