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Pop up Kick Off


Purdue Pete

Question

Watched a perfectly executed pop up kick off this weekend.  Popped it up about 15 yards down field on the sideline.  The coverage team actually had an opportunity to catch it in the air but let it hit the ground and covered it.  My question is if they had caught the kickoff in the air would that have been ok or a penalty?

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It is kick catching interference for the kicking team to touch a free kick that has not been grounded, regardless of whether a member of the receiving team is in a position to make a play on the ball, unless the kick was touched first by the receivers.

”Pop-up kick” is actually a specifically defined term in the rule book. 

“A pop-up kick is a free kick in which the kicker drives the ball immediately into the ground, the ball strikes the ground once and goes into the air in the manner of a ball kicked directly off the tee.” A pop-up kick is illegal.

I take it you are referring to a kick that has never touched the ground, not a pop-up kick as defined.

Edited by Bobref
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6 hours ago, Bobref said:

It is kick catching interference for the kicking team to touch a free kick that has not been grounded, regardless of whether a member of the receiving team is in a position to make a play on the ball, unless the kick was touched first by the receivers.

”Pop-up kick” is actually a specifically defined term in the rule book. 

“A pop-up kick is a free kick in which the kicker drives the ball immediately into the ground, the ball strikes the ground once and goes into the air in the manner of a ball kicked directly off the tee.” A pop-up kick is illegal.

I take it you are referring to a kick that has never touched the ground, not a pop-up kick as defined.

Yes.  He kicked it off the tee straight up... never hit the ground.  So given that it would’ve been illegal for the kicking team to catch it in the air? 

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On 10/25/2020 at 12:34 PM, Bobref said:

It is kick catching interference for the kicking team to touch a free kick that has not been grounded, regardless of whether a member of the receiving team is in a position to make a play on the ball, unless the kick was touched first by the receivers.

”Pop-up kick” is actually a specifically defined term in the rule book. 

“A pop-up kick is a free kick in which the kicker drives the ball immediately into the ground, the ball strikes the ground once and goes into the air in the manner of a ball kicked directly off the tee.” A pop-up kick is illegal.

I take it you are referring to a kick that has never touched the ground, not a pop-up kick as defined.

NFHS uses the term popup kick as a kick that is driven into the ground and bounces up. For years the term was used to describe a “sky” kick that never touches the ground as described in the OP. I’m not sure how the rules makers decided what to call it but I know the term can be confusing for many. When I hear pop up kick I think of the one up in air not the one described in the rule book. I see I’m not alone

Edited by Huge Football Fan
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21 hours ago, Huge Football Fan said:

NFHS uses the term popup kick as a kick that is driven into the ground and bounces up. For years the term was used to describe a “sky” kick that never touches the ground as described in the OP. I’m not sure how the rules makers decided what to call it but I know the term can be confusing for many. When I hear pop up kick I think of the one up in air not the one described in the rule book. I see I’m not alone

NCAA passed a rule regarding the pop-up kick a year or two prior to NFHS. The difference is NCAA treats it as if it has not hit the ground. This means the returner has full protection to complete the catch and they can fair catch it. The ball remains live. We had already referred to this as a pop-up kick and what you call a pop-up kick we referred to as a pooch kick.

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So it seems as there is a grey area concerning the cutoff from when a legal onside kick would turn illegal.  I From your shared video, what constitutes the difference between kick #2 (legal) when I'm estimating the ball rebounds to 4 feet after the first hop and kick #3 (illegal) when the ball rebounds to 8 feet.  Is there a height off of the first bounce that officials would consider and say "that's illegal" vs "that's legal"?   I totally understand the safety issue that a big hop would create just looking for clearer picture.

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1 hour ago, gopher2 said:

So it seems as there is a grey area concerning the cutoff from when a legal onside kick would turn illegal.  I From your shared video, what constitutes the difference between kick #2 (legal) when I'm estimating the ball rebounds to 4 feet after the first hop and kick #3 (illegal) when the ball rebounds to 8 feet.  Is there a height off of the first bounce that officials would consider and say "that's illegal" vs "that's legal"?   I totally understand the safety issue that a big hop would create just looking for clearer picture.

The rule does not specify a height. If the first bounce is high enough to be mistaken for a kick popped up directly off the tee, it’s a foul.

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On 10/30/2020 at 4:15 PM, Bobref said:

The rule does not specify a height. If the first bounce is high enough to be mistaken for a kick popped up directly off the tee, it’s a foul.

Agreed. I look at it if the front line players would be in danger of getting hit while fielding the ball in the air then it's a pop-up kick. If it's coming down well before any K player would get to it then it's fine. If it pops up and would land 15-20 yards downfield then it's probably fine. The challenge is you can't wait that long to make the decision since it's a foul immediately. But that's a good way to understand when the foul occurs.

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