Kill the Punter

[Mike L]

I think you have to look at the entire situation. It's not clear how far away the kick was at the time of contact. Was it short? If the ball is only 20 yards or so away, I think you could reasonably assume the punter could easily participate near term in the play and can be blocked. If he boomed it 50 yards up field, I would think he is not yet in any position to participate near term and you just might have a penalty.
Let's change the situation a little. If the QB throws a long pass (40 yds) that gets intercepted, are you going to allow a B lineman to just plaster him like this while well away from the play? The QB can easily be considered the "last line of defense". Are you going to treat a kicker different from a QB?

[parepat]

Originally Posted by Mike L

I think you have to look at the entire situation. It's not clear how far away the kick was at the time of contact. Was it short? If the ball is only 20 yards or so away, I think you could reasonably assume the punter could easily participate near term in the play and can be blocked. If he boomed it 50 yards up field, I would think he is not yet in any position to participate near term and you just might have a penalty.
Let's change the situation a little. If the QB throws a long pass (40 yds) that gets intercepted, are you going to allow a B lineman to just plaster him like this while well away from the play? The QB can easily be considered the "last line of defense". Are you going to treat a kicker different from a QB?

I absolutely am not calling a PF on the interception scenario so long as the QB is no longer acting as a passer. As far as I'm concerned he is fair game to block. Others?

[MadCityRef]

Originally Posted by parepat

I absolutely am not calling a PF on the interception scenario so long as the QB is no longer acting as a passer. As far as I'm concerned he is fair game to block. Others?

Block, yes. Flatten? No.

Always get the safety fouls.

[Robert Goodman]

Originally Posted by MadCityRef

Block, yes. Flatten? No.

Always get the safety fouls.

Whether a player is "flattened" is a function of his own action as much as that of the blocking player's form. Contact that might be perfectly legal could, depending on how the opponent plays, result in a player's being flattened as much as a KO punch. You can't officiate based on how a player reacts to being hit, only on how they hit.

The rules of the game are designed to discourage many forms of cheap shot by allowing players a chance to defend themselves against a hit; they don't guarantee that all players will effectively so defend themselves.

In this case it seems the player of team B ran a loop around the kicker, but the kicker just didn't see him coming. He may very well have been focusing too far downfield, plus the helmets do restrict vision. As with bicycle & motorcycle helmets, there's a safety tradeoff there.

Robert