You make the call

[scrounge]

Originally Posted by Robert Goodman

What makes you say intent of the kicker doesn't matter? 9-7-1 says "No player shall intentionally kick the ball other than as a free or scrimmage kick." And since that's the thing that makes it subject to penalty, then the intention of the player is what it's all about. Looks to me like the intention of the player was to make a place kick. The fact that he didn't succeed is irrelevant.

That strikes me as a rather bizarre way of looking at it. I agree with you, he did indeed intend to make a place kick. So we agree that this clause is where intent matters - and we have satisfied that part. That's necessary - but not sufficient.

Why? Because the kick has to be a legal free or scrimmage kick, by black letter of the rule. It can't be a legal scrimmage kick in this instance if it's not controlled on the ground or a kicking tee by a teammate. And it isn't - intent doesn't matter here, for this part. It's either controlled or not. And in this case, it's not, which means it's not a legal scrimmage kick.

So we've established intent and we've determined that, by rule, it's not a legal scrimmage kick. How is it anything other than illegal kicking?