Can a receiver who has given a valid or invalid fair catch signal block during the down? This is one of the questions on Part I of the NFHS test. There has been a lot of debate regarding this question in our organization. I think 9-3-3 says something to the effect of, "A receiver who has given a valid or invalid fair catch signal may not block until the kick has ended." One argument is that the player cannot block during the down because as soon as possession is gained or the ball becomes dead, the play is over. Is there any possible scenario where the person giving a v/invalid fair catch can block during the down? The confusion is based on the word "down". Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Here's the scenario,

K kicks the ball, ball is in the air, R1 signals faircatch, ball bounces back behind the neutral zone. K picks it up and advances it.

#20 is false but I think the answer key says true.

[Edited by Snake~eyes on Aug 18th, 2005 at 05:11 PM]

The key is, when did the kick end. On the scenario given in the 2nd post, the kick ended when the ball hit the ground. Let's say that R1 gives a valid signal, the ball bounces, and is picked up by R2. R1 is allowed to block at anytime after the ball has hit the ground. Am I wrong?

R1 can block when the kick ends. A grounded kick is still a kick so R1 can't block when the kick hits the ground. He can block once R2 possesses the ball.

OK, so I was wrong, but I was kind of close.

I'm having trouble with "the kick ended when it hit the ground". A kick ends when a player gains possession or when the ball becomes dead while not in player possession. Any receiver may signal for a fair catch while the ball is in flight and can't block until the kick ends. Wouldn't the fair catch end when the ball hits the ground?

Sorta, the signalling R's right to protection ends once the kick hits the ground. Also, all those crazy things that R has rights to after a fair kick are gone once the kick hits the ground. You can't have a fair catch if the kick is not caught (unless of course it's awarded). If any R recovers the kick after it hits the ground, the ball is dead and the kick is over. That's what they are trying to get at with this question. They're just kinda ignoring the possibility that the ball could be recovered on K's side of the NZ and K recovers to end the kick.

PS - just because R lost the right of protection doesn't mean K gets to plaster them once R recovers the kick. You'd rule this like any other dead ball situation with a late hit.

PSS-gotta love the kicking game!

That's one of those stupid trick questions the Fed likes to use. The answer is false (it was on last year's test, too). The rule states that a player giving a valid/invalid fair catch signal cannot block "until the kick ends." Since a kick doesn't end until the ball is possessed (or OOB), and the ball is dead when possessed after such a signal....for the life of me I can't think of a scenario in which the kick would end but the down would still continue.

But go with the book or get it wrong - like we did last year!!

And no - a kick doesn't end when it hits the ground. For all new and newer officials - read rule 2 first and last, then read it every week. If you know rule 2, you know all you need to know (almost).

Read the first reply, I gave an example.

And now I can sleep at night!!!!! Dummy, I should thought of that. Thanks a lot. I'll drop that one on the crew tonight and I'll look like a genius. No offense, but I'm taking the credit for it. :)