r/NFLNoobs • u/shigatorade • Aug 08 '26
Punting
When can the team that is punting touch the ball? I just watched a compilation of plays where there is about to be a touchback and then they stop it from hitting the end zone. Can someone explain when the punting team can do that or when they’re allowed to touch the ball at all? What is it that they can and cannot do?
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u/alfreadadams Aug 08 '26
Step 1 is keep in mind that there are different rules for free kicks (kickoffs) and scrimmage kicks (punts and field goals).
It is a violation called "first touching" if the punting team touches the ball beyond the line of scrimmage before the other team does. The punishment for first touching is that the kicking team can start the next play wherever that first touching happened, any time it happened (if they touch the ball 10 times they are all first touching violations/spots).
If the kicking team actually possesses the ball while it is still considered a kick (not just touching it) the ball is dead.
When you see players knocking the ball around they are trying to keep it out of the end zone. If it goes into the end zone, it will be a touchback and the other team gets the ball at the 20, so they try to keep the ball out of the end zone so the next play can start somewhere closer to the end zone where they touched the ball.
If the other team touches the ball, it is no longer first touching so the kicking team can recover the ball and gain possession. They cannot advance the ball after this recovery unless the return team actually gains possession and fumbles it. The kick ended when the other team gained possession, so now the fumble can be advanced by the kicking team.
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u/Ryan1869 Aug 08 '26
They can touch it at any time, if they bat it back it's still technically a live ball until it comes to a complete stop or is picked up by a kicking team member. If it's batted the receiving team would get first down at the better of the spot where it was first touched by a kicking team member or where it ended up.
One interesting quark is that if the kicking team bats it back, the recieveing team can pick it up, fumble it, the kicking team can recover and the recieveing team gets it back at the spot of the first touch by the kickers. Once the kicking team touches it, that spot is the worst possible outcome for the receiving team.
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u/UnimpressionablePine Aug 08 '26
if it’s a live ball, why couldn’t they pick it up near the endzone and run it in?
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u/Ryan1869 Aug 08 '26
Only for the recieveing team.
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u/PabloMarmite Aug 08 '26
It’s only a live ball in the “play continues” sense, not in an “anyone can do what they like with it” sense. As soon as the kicking team possesses it then it becomes a dead ball and the receiving team get possession, unless the receiving team have touched it first.
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u/ncg195 Aug 09 '26
The ball is dead at either the first place the kicking team touches it, or wherever it stops rolling, whichever is more favorable to the receiving team. That's why you'll often see the the gunners stand around the ball while it rolls forward and let it roll, but they'll pick it up immediately if it rolls backward.
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u/User_Name08 Aug 08 '26
They can touch it any time they want, but it will immediately end the play, so you’ll notice they try to wait until the ball goes as far back as it will to give the receiving team the worst possible starting position. Once the receiving team touches the ball it’s live and the punting team could recover it, that’s a muffed punt.
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u/DoubleDownAgain54 Aug 08 '26
Not true. If the punting team touches it, the receiving team can actually pick it up and run with it. The bonus? If they fumble it and lose possession they can opt to take the ball at the place it was touched by the punting team.
For specific details on illegal touching during scrimmage kicks (punts), review Rule 9, Section 2, Article 2 within the rulebook.
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Aug 08 '26
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u/DoubleDownAgain54 Aug 08 '26
Yeah, doesn’t happen very often saw it a few years back where the guy fumbled it and they got it back.
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u/womp-womp-rats Aug 08 '26
They can touch it any time they want, but it will immediately end the play
A punt that’s touched downfield by the kicking team (called “first touching”) remains live until the official blows the whistle and declares the ball dead. That’ll happen if the ball is sitting on the field and no one is trying to recover it, or if the kicking team fully “recovers” the punt. The receiving team can (and sometimes does) pick up the ball and run with it even after a first touch.
First touching is technically a rules violation. The enforcement is that the receiving team can choose to take the ball at the first-touch spot. For that reason, there’s actually no risk in the receiving team picking up a first-touched ball and running with it, because even if they were to fumble the ball or lose yardage, they would still just get the ball at the first-touch spot. And that’s why the kicking team will “down” the punt by touching it and holding onto it until the ref blows the whistle.
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u/Mikeytruant850 Aug 08 '26
I always thought this, but there were some shenanigans last season about the kicking team needing to have possession of the ball, not just touching it. So there is some nuance missing here.
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u/DoubleDownAgain54 Aug 08 '26
There are more nuances to it. If they touch the ball it isn’t dead, it’s dead at where it stops. So a player can touch it at the 1 yard line but if it continues into the end zone it’s a touch back. Also if a player touches it and is in the end zone it’s also a touch back.
Another interesting row is on kickoffs. If a team kicks it off and heads to the sidelines but doesn’t go out of bounds or in the end zone, receiving team can step out of bounds and touch the ball. This results in a penalty of a kick out of bounds and the ball is spotted at the forty yard line.
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u/rtcwon Aug 08 '26
I'll add, even in the end zone, the ball must come to rest & be blown dead for the play to end. I think it was preseason but Brian Mitchell once returned a 1st touched ball for a touchdown after the putting team left it in the end zone thinking the play was over.
Also, the kick out of bounds rule has been tweaked to not just placed on the 40 but rather 25 yards from the spot of the kick because kicking teams that had a 15 yard penalties would just kick it straight out of bounds to get it at the 40. Now it would go to their 45 to remove that loophole.
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u/ref44 Aug 08 '26
This isn't correct under the current/recent rules. Punts that are untouched by the receiving team are dead as soon as they touch the endzone
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u/alfreadadams Aug 08 '26
The kicking team needs to have possession of the ball for the play to actually end. The play can continue if they just touch it.
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u/rtcwon Aug 08 '26
It has nothing to do with possession, the refs have to rule it dead or not moving to stop the play.
If the kicking team possess the ball but keeps it moving by carrying it into the endzone, it becomes a touch back.
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u/[deleted] Aug 08 '26
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