KCI from Monday Night Football

[ChickenOfNC]

Did anybody see the KCI call from MNF last night? I didn't see it but it was explained to me this way:

R waived a valid fair catch, bounce up and forward off his facemask. K player charging toward him catches the ball in air and then they collide. After discussion a flag is dropped. The explanation was that R still had to be given the opportunity to COMPLETE the catch, and in this situation he was not.

Anybody see it differently than I described it?

Is this an NFL rule? Obviously this is not a Fed. rule

[Warrenkicker]

Both NFL and NCAA have different rules than NF. In NF once the ball was muffed by R, K can catch it. In NFL and NCAA the R player must be allowed to complete the catch after giving a valid signal.

[BigGref]

I loved Tripplet's explanation, he was so matter of fact about it, Cowers' expressions are golden and I loved right after the call when the LJ on his side was explaining it to him and he looks like he is about ready to explode. yeah, in Fed once you muff you are cleared for takedown of R after a FC.

[kentref]

I'm certainly not an expert on NFL rules, but I saw the play in question and it appeared to me that given the position of the R player (giving the fair catch signal) and where the ball was muffed, the R player would have had little chance to catch the ball because he was moving backwards and the ball bounced up a couple yards in front of him. Don't know if there is any judgment involved with this NFL rule or whether the player muffing the ball retains his "opportunity to catch the muffed ball" until the ball hits the ground.

On a positive note, at least the announcers recognized that it was a muff and not a "fumble."