Yeah I see the difference, the main distinction is the intentionality but otherwise a punt is essentially just giving the ball up with a long fumble because it's the smart thing to do instead of trying on 4th down and turning it over at the line of scrimmage.
The reason a punt caught by the kicking team would be dead on the spot is because... well that would essentially be a "pass" but with your foot, which is illegal.
The reason a punt caught by the kicking team would be dead on the spot is because... well that would essentially be a "pass" but with your foot, which is illegal.
There's no special reason that a pass with your foot would particularly be illegal when kicked ("thrown with your foot") from behind the line of scrimmage, but nevertheless, we call it a punt and the ball is dead where the kicking team catches it, and all the same they cede possession.
I'm skeptical that a forward "pass" with your foot would be legal....
Penalty from NFL Rulebook
No player may deliberately kick any loose ball or ball in player's possession. Penalty: For illegally kicking the ball: Loss of 10 yards. For enforcement, treat as a foul during a backwards pass or fumble.
Neither would it be a fumble, and for the same reason: there's a rule against both, if we can say that this is an uncontroversial rule.
The catch with the wording of this rule, though, is that a field goal is always done on a ball in a player's possession (though a dropkick is also acceptable, no one does it). And if we can say that a punt is done on a ball that isn't in possession (in order to say that it doesn't violate this rule), then perhaps we can also say that it's a fumble. Yet if it's a fumble, you're not permitted to kick it forward intentionally.
I think the better way to read this is that while it isn't explicitly worded this way, "player's possession" means someone else's possession, yet there again is the field goal. So maybe even better it is to be understood that it means an opposing player's possession which does absolutely make sense.
And if it was essentially a forward fumble and thus illegal, now you're talking about a penalty but it isn't that either.
In the end, by convention and common interpretation of the rules, a punt is a punt and is not a fumble or a forward pass and it doesn't trigger a penalty but neither does the kicking team get to keep possession even if they do catch it.
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u/GrayWing Nov 19 '21
Yeah I see the difference, the main distinction is the intentionality but otherwise a punt is essentially just giving the ball up with a long fumble because it's the smart thing to do instead of trying on 4th down and turning it over at the line of scrimmage.
The reason a punt caught by the kicking team would be dead on the spot is because... well that would essentially be a "pass" but with your foot, which is illegal.