Roughing the Kicker

[Pivo Ref]

4th and 10 from the A's 15.  Kicker muffs the snap but picks up the ball and attempts to kick the ball. He sees and feels a lot of pressure.  The ball glances of the side of the foot, clearly making contact with the foot but so slight that the ball only goes about 2 yards to the right.  R1 then tackles the kicker before the kicker can right himself. R2 picks up the ball and runs it into the end zone.  Touchdown? Penalty?  What if the kicker totally missed the ball in his attempt to kick it?

[AlUpstateNY]

Whether the contact with the kicker is AVOIDABLE, and therefore would be a penalty, is a judgment call that has to be made totally independently by the Referee.  If the RUNNER never makes contact with the ball, he never becomes a KICKER (by striking the ball with his lower leg) which means R is recovering a fumble, and he's off to the races.

You might take a real hard, long look at NF: 2-32 (Player Designations)  as it impacts a lot of other rules and situations.

[James]

Of course in this example he clearly states the KICKER was tackled, and described the ball as having contacted the kickers foot.
I'm no good on Fed rules, but for NCAA you need to take in to account if it was obvious that the kick was going to be made (they refer to it as a rugby style kick).

[LarryW60]

James, his follow-on question asks what if the kicker totally missed the ball.  In that case there IS no kicker per the player designation rule and Roughing the Kicker cannot be called.

[James]

Absolutely right he did. I was too focused on the action in front of me, and didn't have a wide enough view of the play.