illegal hands and possession

[pitlord]

Ok here's the deal Team R is punting.

The ball is kicked (say 20 yrds past line of scrimmage, but i don't think it matters)and Player W1 calls fair catch and it hits him and he drops it. He then falls on it to recover it.

BUT, while the ball is still "uncontrolled" or not in possession of someone player W2 is called for illegal use of hands.

In the game the refs spotted the ball from the original line of scrimmage plus the penalty yardage and gave team R a first down. I thought it should have been Team W's ball and the penalty yardage assessed from where W1 recovered the ball.

What is the right call here?

Or, where can I find the answer, I don't have a rule book, but I heard that it might be a new rules book change.



[Edited by pitlord on Oct 19th, 2002 at 05:13 PM]