Need a tee?
 

Couldn't find anything in the rule book either way. Is a tee mandatory for a kick off? The player placed the ball on the ground and kicked directly from the ground, anything wrong with this?

2-24-7

The ball must be in a "fixed position," and lying loose on the ground ain't fixed.

2-24-7 is for a place kick.

True. Please now look at 2-24-5. ;)

Don't see anything that says a tee must be used in either rule. A free kick IS a place kick.

That's correct: the rule does not require a tee. But it does require that the ball be in a "fixed position."

Loose on the ground is not a "fixed position." That's why it's customary, when the ball blows off the tee, to have a holder fix its position on the tee. The kicking team may not simply set the ball on the ground and discard the tee.

A stationary ball on the ground is in a fixed position.

A holder can hold it on the ground without a tee.

Go ahead and call it like you want.

I agree that a holder can hold it on the ground without a tee. A holder would fix its position.

Lying still is not being fixed: a place kick requires a ball held in place. This is the plain meaning of "fixed" in ordinary English.

And you're welcome to call it as you wish, too. :)

Totally and completely false.

A tee is no required.

A holder is not required.

The ball lying on the ground is in a fixed position.

Go back and read 2-24-7 again. All of it.

By "fixed" I thought they meant stationary, i.e. not rolling -- not that it was like, uh, nailed to something. Would anybody here rule a kicking of the ball not to have been a place kick if the holder was moving the ball somewhat at the moment it was kicked?

OK. Here it is:

"A place kick is a legal kick made while the ball is in a fixed position
on the ground or on a kicking tee. No material or device may be placed on the
ground to improve the kicker’s footing. The ball also may be held in position on
the ground or on a kicking tee by a place-kick holder who shall be a teammate of
the kicker. A place kick may be used for a scrimmage kick, a kickoff, a free kick
following a safety or for a free kick following a fair catch or awarded fair catch."

I'm still seeing "fixed position" to mean "on a tee" (with or without a holder) OR "held in position on the ground" by a holder.

Tony (and by implication, Rich) assert otherwise. So far it seems mere assertion with no rule backing, but I won't bet against the world.

It seems as though you agree that it doesn't HAVE to be on a tee, but the last part that I marked ("may") is the part that seems to me to be the part that allows K to kick it from the ground without a holder if they want.

Look at the "OR" part. It states "OR kicking tee". That would indicate the kicking tee is the option to the "fixed positon ON the ground".

Forest = Trees