Fair Catch Rules

[Bob M.]

Originally posted by booker227
rule 6-5-5 no receiver shall advance the ball after a valid or invalid fair catch signal. Penalty is delay-of- game, five yards marked off from the catch. First and ten for R

REPLY: Technically that's true, but as a practical matter, the BJ or other covering official needs to be sure that the receiver caught the ball before blowing the whistle to kill the play. As a result, the R player who fielded the kick might very well begin to take off, not knowing that a teammate had signalled. As MJT said, he better stop quickly after hearing the whistle, but there's no reason whatsoever to throw the flag after his first step or two.