NFHS Fair Catch Rule

[mbyron]

Originally Posted by bossman72

question - if a receiver gets hit after giving a valid fair catch signal (and catches the ball cleanly) is this a personal foul or kick catching interference?

It can't be KCI because he already caught the ball. PF.

[bossman72]

Originally Posted by mbyron

It can't be KCI because he already caught the ball. PF.

It's a dead ball PF and enforced from where he caught it, correct?

[buckrog64]

He caught the ball, so KCI is hard to call. So I go PF and 15 yards from where he caught the ball if he got hit.

[Reffing Rev.]

So what happened in the OP is that 3 K players tackled an R player in possession of a dead ball? Ummm...Dead Ball Personal Foul 15 yards from the suceeding spot and 1st down.

Or was it that a player of K tackled an R player while the ball is loose on the ground, after said player had signaled for and failed to make a fair catch? Ummm...tackling is a form of holding, so live ball Holding 10 yards from the previous spot and replay the down.

[VALJ]

Originally Posted by bossman72

It's a dead ball PF and enforced from where he caught it, correct?

Bingo. As soon as R makes the catch, the ball is dead, so it's a DBPF enforced from the succeeding spot (the spot of the catch, in this case).

[Canned Heat]

Originally Posted by VALJ

Bingo. As soon as R makes the catch, the ball is dead, so it's a DBPF enforced from the succeeding spot (the spot of the catch, in this case).

There you have it.

[Robert Goodman]

People here are losing sight of the actual play, where there was no catch. A fair catch had been signaled by R1, and then after the ball had rolled a distance R1 ran to where it was surrounded by K players and picked it up while it was still rolling.

OK, the ball is dead, but who among the players is responsible for recognizing that before an official signals so, and under circumstances where (a) R1 apparently attempted to advance, (b) R1 made no apparent attempt to advance? Are players of K supposed to remember a fair catch had been signaled and therefore flagged for UR in either case, or only in case (b)? Or is there no foul by K for a "normal" hit in either case? Presumably in case (a) you'd enforce the penalty for the dead ball foul on R first for delay of game, and then if K also fouled that would come next. If there are indeed 2 fouls, then the order of enforcement could be important, because this could very well be a case where the spot was close to R's goal line. (Like, K was trying to milk a little more distance out of the punt, and R1, realizing the ball would not make the goal line, put a stop to it.)

Robert