Federation Rule Question

[James Neil]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by sloth
[B]In the federation rule book, 2-16-4 states that "no foul causes a live ball to be dead". Here is a scenarion I am curious about. The yard markers aren't too significant...scrimmage kick. K1 kicks the ball well past the LOS. R1 catches the ball on the run, takes 3-4 steps and signals fair catch. Clearly by rule an illegal fair catch (as defined in 2-9-5).

Now since everything was legal up until the illegal fair catch, I have an instance according to 2-16-4 where a foul can not cause the live ball to be dead. However, I have a reciever that thinks he has protection under a fair catch. I don't blow the whistle, and he gets knocked into next week. I blow the whistle (to kill it) and I commit an inadvertant whistle.

Thoughs, insights, suggestions?

I don’t believe I’d blow the ball dead in this instance at any level. This isn't like a player who’s not expecting contact and then getting blasted. Plus I think the players are padded enough to withstand any legal contact.
BTW jfurdell.... Good call and explanation on the invalid vs. illegal signal

[Edited by James Neil on Jul 1st, 2003 at 09:43 AM]