Kick - Legal or illegal?

[Ed Hickland]

That is important as to whether he handled the ball or not. In this case he simply kicked the ball without even attempting to handled it.

[mcrowder]

But don't you have a 15-yard penalty from the spot of the kick ... a penalty that will likely be declined and the safety (result of the play) accepted?

[Ed Hickland]

Originally Posted by mcrowder

But don't you have a 15-yard penalty from the spot of the kick ... a penalty that will likely be declined and the safety (result of the play) accepted?

Correct or in this case a half the distance.

The question came up do you give the option or simply award a safety?

[MJT]

Originally Posted by Ed Hickland

Correct or in this case a half the distance.

The question came up do you give the option or simply award a safety?

I am going to tell the B captain this. "Right now, you have a safety. You will get 2 pts and they will kick off to you from their 20. If, for some reason you choose to take the penalty for an illegal kick, it will not be a safety, and it will be 4th-38 at their 5 yard line. So do you want to take the safety?

[Texas Aggie]

NCAA: the penalty for an illegal kick is both 15 yards AND a loss of down. Either safety if penalty is declined, or ball at 5, first and goal for the original receiving team. Thus, the smart thing would be to accept the penalty, unless for time remaining or other strange reasons, the safety is just as good as a touchdown.

[MJT]

I like the NCAA rule. In a college game last year the following play happened.
K 4-? from about the 20. Ball snapped over punters had and he chases the bouncing ball back towards the goal line. He catches up to the ball at the 3 and kicks it as it is rolling out the back of the EZ. Cuz of the LOD, B gets the ball 1-goal at the 1.5 yard line, score and end up winning the game by 4 points.

[Texas Aggie]

Now, the tricky question: what's the mechanic? As an R, are you going to go back to the end zone and signal safety initially?

[Bob M.]

REPLY: Then your flag was appropriate. In order to be a legal kick it must either be a free kick (this wasn't) or a scrimmage kick (NF 9-7-1). A scrimmage kick must either be a punt, a place kick, or a drop kick. All three of these are defined in 2-23. Your kicker's actions don't qualify. It was an illegal kick.

[Jim D]

This is an illegal kick as everyone has mentioned. The result of the play is a safety. The penalty, if accepted, would be enforced from the spot of the foul (10 yard line) so you have K's ball 4th & 38 from the 5 so R may decline the penalty and go for good field position. This is a loose ball play and the offense fouled behind the basic (previous) spot.