Live Ball Treated as Dead Ball Foul

[Tom Hinrichs]

There are a couple of things that you may want to consider. First, you have to penalize this act- it is a matter of safety.

Whether or not the ball crossed the goal line at the time of the hit is pretty subjective. You don't want a game changing call here-so taking it as a dead-ball foul and penalizing the foul on the kickoff or try is an option.

On the other hand, bringing back a long run for a cheap shot certainly makes the point.

You also might want to consider ejecting the offending player-if the act was flagrant.