snap over punters head----safety?

[jchamp]

Originally Posted by splitveer

We had a situation the other night where the snap went over the punters head and into the endzone. What would be the ruling on each of these plays? By the way I am a coach wanting to make sure our punter handles this situation correctly.
a) punter kicks the ball out of the back of the endzone
b) punter scoops or bats the ball out of the back of the endzone
c) punter grabs the ball and throws or tosses the ball out of the back of the endzone.

What would be the call on each? Is there any other situation that would cause us to be penalized in this situation. Thanks a bunch.

If your objective is to teach a punter what to do if he's in this position, probably the best thing is to tell him to scoop up the ball. If he can't turn around and punt it safely, then THROW it out the back of the end zone. It's a backwards pass, and is perfectly legal. And don't be shy about throwing it, either. Heave that sucker into the parking lot!

[mbyron]

Originally Posted by jchamp

If your objective is to teach a punter what to do if he's in this position, probably the best thing is to tell him to scoop up the ball. If he can't turn around and punt it safely, then THROW it out the back of the end zone. It's a backwards pass, and is perfectly legal. And don't be shy about throwing it, either. Heave that sucker into the parking lot!

In what way is that better? Same result.

[jchamp]

Originally Posted by mbyron

In what way is that better? Same result.

There's no penalty for illegal [action], which means if B commits a foul, then A gets the option to accept the foul and possibly keep the ball, or at least replay the down without snapping the ball over the kicker's head.

[mbyron]

Originally Posted by jchamp

There's no penalty for illegal [action], which means if B commits a foul, then A gets the option to accept the foul and possibly keep the ball, or at least replay the down without snapping the ball over the kicker's head.

If the kick takes place in the EZ, it's a safety whether the opponent accepts or declines the penalty. That was the situation in the OP, but perhaps you're changing the subject?

Also, your first post suggests you want the punter to throw the ball away, so A is fouling and B would have an "option."

[Eastshire]

Originally Posted by mbyron

If the kick takes place in the EZ, it's a safety whether the opponent accepts or declines the penalty. That was the situation in the OP, but perhaps you're changing the subject?

Also, your first post suggests you want the punter to throw the ball away, so A is fouling and B would have an "option."

I think jchamp is proposing that instead of kicking the ball on the ground, the better play is to pick the ball up and either a) punt if not under pressure or b) throw a backwards pass out of the end zone.

He's proposing that while b) is still a safety, it is not a penalty which would afford A an opportunity to replay the down if B fouled during it.

I don't know if he's correct in his assessment of the result or not.

[Altor]

Originally Posted by Eastshire

I think jchamp is proposing that instead of kicking the ball on the ground, the better play is to pick the ball up and either a) punt if not under pressure or b) throw a backwards pass out of the end zone.

He's proposing that while b) is still a safety, it is not a penalty which would afford A an opportunity to replay the down if B fouled during it.

I don't know if he's correct in his assessment of the result or not.

Wasn't that my point in post #4?

[jchamp]

Originally Posted by Eastshire

I think jchamp is proposing that instead of kicking the ball on the ground, the better play is to pick the ball up and either a) punt if not under pressure or b) throw a backwards pass out of the end zone.

He's proposing that while b) is still a safety, it is not a penalty which would afford A an opportunity to replay the down if B fouled during it.

I don't know if he's correct in his assessment of the result or not.

That was precisely my point. If B fouls during the down, A has the opportunity that comes from it. The best that can happen if A fouls is they replay the down just as it was, 4th & whatever. If A does not foul, the best that can happen is B fouls and the result of the enforcement is 1st down. It's pretty simple, if you can avoid committing a foul, you do so. There are very few situations in which the result of fouling is preferable to not fouling. This is not one of them.