Batting the ball

[Robert Goodman]

Around 15 yrs. ago in a NFL playoff game where a particular team K, behind in the score, was particularly good at this artificial-surface onside kick. They attempted one, and a particular player of R, timing his jump well, batted the ball out of bounds. 10 yds. penalty & repeat; play repeated. This time in addition there was a conference between the referee and R's captain. Watching on TV, I could only imagine that the ref was warning that doing it a 3rd time would be ruled a palpably unfair act with an equitable penalty, I'm guessing awarding possession to K at the spot or better.