Touchback on Kickoff
 

Hello all. Football is definately not my specialty, I'm a baseball and softball umpire. I have 2 quick questions for you guys.

1) My friend and I are arguing about a touchback on a kickoff. He says that once the ball crosses the goal line (before the receiving team has touched it), it is automatically a touchback unless the receiving team attempts to run the ball back, just like it is on a punt. I on the other hand, feel that a kickoff is a live ball and can be recovered by the kicking team on any portion of the field if the receiving team has not touched it, including in the end zone. Here's the scenario he drew up:

Kickoff is long and lands 4 yards into the endzone. The ball takes a bounce backwards from the point of contact and sits on the 1 yard line. The kicking team recovers the ball before the receiving team can get to it. Is it a touchback (his view) or kicking team's ball at the receiver's 1-yard line?

2) Is there a copy of the nfl rulebook out there somewhere on the internet like there is for baseball? I would have loved to have trudged through the book to find the answer but all I can find is the digest on the NFL website.

Thanks and sorry for the long post!

Under NFHS rules, ANY kick (other than a successful field goal try) that crosses R's goal line is a touchback. Period. It is dead the instant it crosses the goal line. The scenario your friend drew up could not happen under NFHS rules. I'll let the NCAA and NFL guys answer for those rule codes, which I'm certain are very different.

I should have clarified, we are looking for the nfl ruling. Thanks for the info bigwes.

If I recall the NFL rule correctly, if the kick is caught in the end zone, it can be returned or downed for a touchback. If a kick hits the ground the end zone, it is a touchback. It's been a few months since I worked NFL rules and try to put them out of my head when the high school season finally gets here.

Wisref, thanks for the reply! Can anyone confirm or refute his assertion?

I don't think this is even true on a punt. Remember Robert Bailey of the Rams in the mid-90s when he picked up a punt that had yet to be ruled dead in the end zone and ran 103 yards for a TD while the remaining players were walking off the field?

I'm not positive of the answer to your kickoff question so I'll keep from guessing.

By the way- you can purchase the NFL rule book from one of the major bookstore chains.

In the NFL, a free kick must be "covered" and downed in the EZ to be a TB. 6-3-2-c

NFL 9-1-13, says "a scrimmage kick that has not been touched by R that crosses the goal line from the impetus of the kick, the ball is dead immediately when it touches the ground or a player of the kicking team in or behind R's goal line.