hello everyone,
hope everyone had a great weekend of football!
hoping i can get some help with a scenario that came up in the fourth quarter of a game which i was refereeing last night. it was a great game the score was 6-0 with about 3:12 to go in the game; when on a fourth down play a defensive player ran into the kicker unintentionally and barely touching him during the kick, immediately i threw my flag; and when the play was over i began to give the signal and explain the option too the kicking team, when my umpire steps in and says this is a automatic first down and i explained to him that i had running into the kicker and not roughing the kicker and he insisted that this is a automatic first down, as the white hat i went with what i knew was right, i moved the kicking team up 5 yards and re kicked, but he insisted he was correct and he got a little irritated, if we had roughing the kicker thats a fifteen yard penalty and automatic firstdown. was this the correct call by national federation rule?


thanks all

tim harris

U was wrong. Running into is not an auto 1st down.

I don't want to criticize you because I didn't see the play but based on your description I don't think you even had a foul. Too many coaches think that touching the kicker is a foul.

9-4-4 Running into or roughing the kicker or holder. A defensive player shall neither run into the kicker nor holder, which is contact that displaces the kicker or holder without roughing; nor block, tackle or charge into the kicker of a scrimmage kick, or the place-kick holder, other than when:

a. Contact is unavoidable because it is not reasonably certain that a kick will be made.
b. The defense touches the kick near the kicker and contact is unavoidable.
c. Contact is slight and is partially caused by movement of the kicker.
d. Contact is caused by R being blocked into the kicker or holder by K.

The key words I see in this are DISPLACES and SLIGHT. If you had displacement then flag it. I had contact a couple of weeks ago but the punter spun himself away from it like he was avoiding it (he should know better). Then they wanted a flag. The "look" of contact was because of the punter's movement and not the defender.

Running into isn't 1st down. Only all the roughings and DPI.

The roughing calls are certainly a judgment call. The addition of the 'running into' option helps. Therefore, we have 3 levels of severity: roughing, running into, and incidental(no foul). I can't make the call for you.

As for the enforcement, I'd have my umpire read the book a little more.

as a life long U--
I can't imagine me going to my
Ref unless he asked me for my opinion.
It's your call all the way-- your judgement !
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It took years for the NF to come to its senses
by adding the "running into" 5 yarder
AND the "small" 5 yard face mask.
Those options help a lot !!
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keep everything in front of you !