Before I die, I want to see a fair catch kick go good.
- Thread starter Sutterkane
- Start date
After a fair catch or awarded fair catch,
The team making the fair catch gets to chose whether to take the ball with a fresh set of downs or free kick (not place kick) from the spot that can be scored by kicking it through the uprights (standard 3 points). The advantage is they get to kick it like a kickoff and not from a place holding position (or drop kicking is allowed, too) and no rush because the 10 yard neutral zone exists in any free kick situation. I've never seen this done at the high school or college level but have once at the NFL level.
The team making the fair catch gets to chose whether to take the ball with a fresh set of downs or free kick (not place kick) from the spot that can be scored by kicking it through the uprights (standard 3 points). The advantage is they get to kick it like a kickoff and not from a place holding position (or drop kicking is allowed, too) and no rush because the 10 yard neutral zone exists in any free kick situation. I've never seen this done at the high school or college level but have once at the NFL level.
Obscure NFL rule. The 49ers attempted one tonight. Here's one from Cardinals - Giants a few years ago.
So it's definitely in the college rules? I knew high school and pros but wasn't sure about the NCAA.
After some quick research, you'd be correct. The rule is not in the college rulebook, per wikipedia (our trusted source). It's in the NFHS and NFL rules, though.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_catch_kick
Some differences between the NFHS (every state's HS rules, except Texas) and NFL:
1. You can use a tee in high school, but not the NFL
2. In High school, if the down following the fair catch has to be replayed, the option still exists.... for instance, a down is played following a fair catch and a penalty is accepted, the offense still maintains the option to free kick. This part of the rule does not exist in the NFL.
3. As with any kick in high school, once the ball crosses the front plane of the goal line, it becomes a touchback (unless the kick goes through the uprights, in which case another free kick from the scoring team's own 40 would follow or if the ball goes out of bounds prior to crossing the goal line... in which the return team would have the option of taking the ball at the point the ball went OOB, 25 yards from the spot of the kick, or rekick with a 5 yard penalty). This is different in the NFL in that a kick caught within the boundaries of the endzone is still returnable. So if the kick was missed, in the NFL, the opposing team would get the ball at the spot of the kick, in high school, the opposing team gets the ball at their own 20 (assuming the ball was not caught by the return team prior to crossing the goal line or the ball did not go out of bounds prior to crossing the goal line).
I figured this would be in the college rulebook... but it was abolished in the '50s. The rule dates back to old rugby rules before forward passes n' ****.
Also, I'm a rules junkie... I know that...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_catch_kick
Some differences between the NFHS (every state's HS rules, except Texas) and NFL:
1. You can use a tee in high school, but not the NFL
2. In High school, if the down following the fair catch has to be replayed, the option still exists.... for instance, a down is played following a fair catch and a penalty is accepted, the offense still maintains the option to free kick. This part of the rule does not exist in the NFL.
3. As with any kick in high school, once the ball crosses the front plane of the goal line, it becomes a touchback (unless the kick goes through the uprights, in which case another free kick from the scoring team's own 40 would follow or if the ball goes out of bounds prior to crossing the goal line... in which the return team would have the option of taking the ball at the point the ball went OOB, 25 yards from the spot of the kick, or rekick with a 5 yard penalty). This is different in the NFL in that a kick caught within the boundaries of the endzone is still returnable. So if the kick was missed, in the NFL, the opposing team would get the ball at the spot of the kick, in high school, the opposing team gets the ball at their own 20 (assuming the ball was not caught by the return team prior to crossing the goal line or the ball did not go out of bounds prior to crossing the goal line).
I figured this would be in the college rulebook... but it was abolished in the '50s. The rule dates back to old rugby rules before forward passes n' ****.
Also, I'm a rules junkie... I know that...
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That kinda sucks the rule isn't in the college game. Figures the NCAA would 17 up something else cool.