fair catch situations - 3 plays

[whaddayouknow]

My understanding (as a first year umpire) is:

#1 - nothing, as long as there was no KCI before the ball was grounded.

#2 - same, assuming by "hit" you mean either "blocked legally" or "tackled legally" (if the circumstances caused K to reasonably think he was a runner.)

#3 - "defend himself and block back": these are two different things. He cannot block, but I would think he could defend himself kind of like an umpire or runner does, using his hands to soften direct hits.