Defensive Holding on Kickoff?

[RoyGardner]

Not a lot to gain in beating on the term lateral. We all know what it is intended to mean, a sideways pass (even the dictionary uses the term to describe a football play). We also know that any pass that is not sideways or forward is by definition in the rules (both NF and NCAA) backward. While it would be nice if the announcers in games used the correct terms, since a lateral pass (sideways) is probably 50% of the time a forward pass, it's more important to have the correct call on the field.

The focus on this play is paying careful attention and using good judgement. If in our opinion the K "defensive hold" simply took out the R player, and the K player was not making any attempt to get to the ball, then we have a foul. If we judge that K player's "hold" was a valid attempt to get to the ball then we have nothing.