Fair Catch Muff - Does it Matter?

[Sturdy6]

On a free kick, B-17 calls for a fair catch at the B-7…

(A) he touches the ball at the B-7, muffs it, and recovers the grounded ball on the B-5
(B) he touches the ball at the B-7, muffs it, and recovers the grounded ball in the end zone
(C) the ball bounces off his shoulder pad and goes out of bounds at the B-10.

Is my thinking correct?

Since he signaled for a fair catch, the ball is dead when recovered by Team B or goes out of bounds.

In (a) and (c), B’s ball at the spot where it is recovered or goes OOB. In (b), it is a touchback for B. Had B not recovered the ball in the EZ, it would still be live since it was touched in the field of play.

Sorry if this too simple a concept, but it came up in a rules discussion…with some potential overthinking going on.

[Maineac]

I believe AR 6-5-1-III matches up with your thinking.

[Kalle]

You might also take a look at rules 2-4-3-a and 2-8-1-a. If the kick strikes the ground or goes out of bounds, there has been no fair catch and none of the fair catch rules apply, no matter what happened previously.

[ElvisLives]

On a free kick, B-17 calls for a fair catch at the B-7…

(A) he touches the ball at the B-7, muffs it, and recovers the grounded ball on the B-5
(B) he touches the ball at the B-7, muffs it, and recovers the grounded ball in the end zone
(C) the ball bounces off his shoulder pad and goes out of bounds at the B-10.

Is my thinking correct?

Since he signaled for a fair catch, the ball is dead when recovered by Team B or goes out of bounds.

In (a) and (c), B’s ball at the spot where it is recovered or goes OOB. In (b), it is a touchback for B. Had B not recovered the ball in the EZ, it would still be live since it was touched in the field of play.

Sorry if this too simple a concept, but it came up in a rules discussion…with some potential overthinking going on.

Your thinking is correct. Don’t forget to signal for the game clock to start when B17 first touches the ball.

(BTW, for differentiation between player numbers and yard lines, standard convention is NO hyphen between the team and the number for a player number, e.g., A33, and use a hyphen between the team and the yard line number for a yard line, e.g., A-33.)

[Sturdy6]

Thank you!