No Fair Catch..
 

I saw this today and wondered how I would handle it as a back judge on Friday night. K punts. R1 who is in position to receive the scrimmage kick,
does not fair catch, and lets the ball go behind him. K2 who is charging full steam down the field "lights up" R1 with a legal hit. R1 was not in a position to protect himself.. There was no flag.. This was the NFL. I am not sure.. Would this wouldn't constitute "Illegal personal contact"?? or maybe it's just the nature of the game. If this type of thing would happen away from the ball it would definitely be a penalty. Opinions ?????

Seeing how the purpose of a FC is to prevent being hit, not signalling a FC would suggest that being hit is legal.

The obvious is that R1 must realize that once he lets the ball go behind him, he's eligible to be hit.

The rules can protect you only from other people's stupidity.

There are rules in place to protect defenseless players - a player catching a punt, a receiver focused on the ball and jumping, the QB, etc.

The player in the play you describe was defenseless ... but not because of what he was doing. He was defenseless by choice and stupidity. If he's not catching the ball, there's no reason for him to be defenseless. Idiot should have protected himself, or even been initiating the contact himself, blocking.

Ahh, but he cannot block if he gave a fair catch signal. Usually the player acts like he is about ready to make the fair catch in an attempt to distract K from downing the ball before it goes into the end zone.

If a player gives a fair catch signal, he will either 1) attempt to make a fair catch or 2) be out of the play (as he is not permitted to block). In either case, K is not allowed to contact him and should have been flagged for a PF.

There was no fair catch signal.

When you say "did not fair catch"... did he signal for a fair catch and then elect not to make one, or was there no signal?

If there was a signal, I've got an easy flag for unnecessary roughness. If there's no signal... I think he's fair game. By knocking him down, the kicking team player is preventing him from blocking his teammates or recovering a potential muff.

The whole premise of the OP is that there was no FC signal.

Ahh, I missed that. When the OP said, "does not fair catch," I assumed he signaled. If R did not give a fair catch signal, I would probably agree with the no call.