For an accidental step out and continue play to be a 15 yard penalty is outragous.
THE PENALTY DOES NOT FIT THE CRIME!!!!
Please, please, please rewrite Case Book play for Rule 6.1.9 situation C (b). This has caused Fed rules to be like NCAA when misinterperated as Redding does.
The kicker causes this to be oob becase R who has one foot on the sideline reaches through the plane of the sideline (TO THE OOB SIDE ) and causes the ball to be oob. Reaching for a ball that is still in bounds (while the player is oob) should not be interpreted as the kicker causing the ball to be oob.
We actually had this happen in a game this season, and I got in quite the kerfluffle with our rules interpreter.
I cited the rule and case book play about players "intentionally" reaching in to touch the ball while out of bounds after a head coach literally yelled at one of his players to do just that, and they did.
He tried to make the case that we should ignore that rule since "it was hard to determine intent."
I may have burned a bridge when I asked him publically what other rules in the rulebook we should ignore.
I make the case every year at this time: The more exceptions you make, the more changes, the more variations and exceptions to rules, the more cumbersome the rulebook becomes, and the more enforcement and officiating errors result.
Less is more. Simple is better than complex. Adopting NCAA rules willy-nilly is a loser. As another official said: "If I wanted to officiate NCAA, I'd do it."