Onside Kick Question

[Altor]

Originally Posted by Spence

Back to #1. No receiving team member in the area. Your wording makes it sound like an "illegal touch" would have been called. Am I misunderstanding?

Yes, it would have been called, and probably signaled by the covering official (look for the official to touch his fingers to his shoulders). But, illegal touching doesn't get flagged. It's rarely announced by the WH unless something else happens during the play and the illegal touching requires special enforcement rules to be applied.

[bisonlj]

Originally Posted by Altor

Yes, it would have been called, and probably signaled by the covering official (look for the official to touch his fingers to his shoulders). But, illegal touching doesn't get flagged. It's rarely announced by the WH unless something else happens during the play and the illegal touching requires special enforcement rules to be applied.

It's only illegal touching if the ball is still in the neutral zone. Beyond that they can legally touch it.