NFHS Fair Catch Rule
 

I need some help here... What is the HS ruling on a fair catch that hits the ground and rolls several bounces. I witnessed the K team tackle the receiver after the ball had hit the ground and rolled then picked up by R. Official ruled the R who waived the fair catch has entitlement to the ball even after it hits the ground to be protected under the fair catch rule.

Thanks

If R1 calls for a fair catch while a kick is in the air, then the kick hits the ground, R1 loses protection from being blocked or tackled.

However, the ball is dead as soon as any R player gains possession of the ball after a fair catch signal. K may have been penalized for a dead-ball personal foul, if the contact was after the play.

Bullycon hit the nail!

As I understand your situation, you are describing a scrimmage kick (punt), where the receiver made a valid fair catch signal, the ball hit the ground, the receiver recovered the ball, and he was then tackled.

No foul on this play unless the official deems the contact a personal foul. The ball is dead when R recovers the kick. R does not have "entitlement" to the ball, except in the sense that it is a scrimmage kick -- so if K touches it before R does, it's first touching. If R muffs the recovery, K can get the ball. The fair catch signal does not change that.

See this case:

Thanks.. What happened was the punt was rolling on ground surrounded by 3 players of K team. R1 ran up to ball picked it up while rolling. K1,2,3 then tackled R1. Official ruled violation of fair catch rule and penalized K team 15 yds.:mad:

On the contrary, if R1 picks it up and starts running with it, I'm flagging R for delay of game. 6-5-5: "No receiver may advance the ball after a valid or invalid fair-catch signal has been given by any member of the receiving team. Penalty: 5 yards [delay of game signal]"

If R1 just picks up the ball and gets tackled, this is nothing unless the contact was severe.

This is a good question and I don't know that it is addressed by a rulebook citation.

My thoughts are that a "catch" is securing possession of a loose ball before it touches the ground so I would think that this can NOT be kick catching interference even if the R signaled for a fair catch. If the contact after R possessed the ball rose to the leve of a personal foul or was relatively late, you could call a dead ball personal foul because the moment any R player secures possession of the kick after the fair catch signal, it is dead.

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.

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

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.

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.

Did R1 pick it up and attempt to advance, i.e. more than to stop any momentum he had in running toward the ball?

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.

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