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NFL Touchback on Punts
My coworker had this question about the Colts-Chargers game and I wasn't sure exactly what the answer was.
On the Chargers final punt of the game, he believes that the Chargers player gained control of the ball while airborne, and that his foot hit the pylon before any part of his body hit the ground. Now, I don't remember the replay of this punt, so I don't know exactly what happened. Just going by the one fuzzy video I saw on YouTube, I don't think he's right, but whatever. So forgetting the actual play, if the above scenario occurred, what is the ruling? Touchback? Or Colts ball on their own 1? For the purposes of this discussion, the ball never breaks the plane of the goalline. The player never touches the ground in the endzone. The player jumps from the field of play, recovers the ball in the air after it has touched the ground at least once, and before he lands in bounds or out of bounds, his foot touches the pylon. On a side note: I am correct that in both NFHS and NCAA the ball is dead at the point where it is recovered, 1st and 10 from the 1, right? |
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My understanding of NFL rules is that they consider a kick in the EZ if a K player touches the ball while in the EZ, no matter the location of the ball.
Consider this: we've probably all seen an NFL punt play where the gunner tries to bat the ball back but his foot is touching in the EZ even though the ball has not broken the plane. They will rule a touchback. The pylon is out of bounds IN the endzone. The side of the pylon facing the opposing goal should be even with the goal line plane. When his foot touched the pylon, he was in the EZ and thus, I believe, under their rules would be a touchback. I don't recall this play. |
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To answer our hypothetical, if the player recovers the ball while airborn and then touches the pylon on the way down, I believe that is a touchback at all levels. |
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Is the pylon part of the ground? Can't you be above the endzone and bat the ball back into the field of play? If a player is trying to bat the ball back and kicks the pylon on his way up, is he considered to have touched the ground in the endzone?
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If the K player touches the pylon on the way up, he is technically out of bounds. If he then participates in the play, he is guilty of illegal participation which is a 15-yard penalty. Your example brings up an interesting thought though. He technically never returned to the field since I assume he continued his momentum out of bounds so I don't know that you can penalize him for illegal participation. I guess you could still consider him out of bounds and thus the ball is dead because it touched something out of bounds. The in-bounds spot would be the foremost point of the ball when it crossed the sideline. If that was beyond the plane of the goal line, it would be a touchback. Otherwise it would a very long field for R. I'd be curious to hear the thoughts of those smarter than me. |
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The airborne K player recovers the ball, and while still airborne, his foot strikes the pylon. He then carries the ball out of bounds at the 1. The ball never breaks the plane of the goal line. In NFHS, this is R ball at the 1, because the position of the player doesn't matter. In NFL, I'm wondering if striking the pylon technically puts the runner in the endzone, and therefore a touchback. Looks like most people think the answer is yes. Thanks for the responses, everyone. |
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Cheers, mb |
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