Ball Return
Ball Return
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Kickoff return: are you allowed to block before the ball is caught?
on kickoff return, for example: the ball is kicked for 70 yards, the first line of returning team isn't going back-pedal, just goes forward to block, the kicking team before the ball is kicked.
Is this a penalty?
It depends on the league and who is being blocked.
For example, in any level the kicker is protected from being blocked until he has the opportunity to regain his balance and defend himself.
In high school there are no other restrictions on when someone can block.
In college, the kicking team cannot block until they could legally touch the ball. The receiving team has no such restriction.
Not sure about the NFL, but my observation has been that the receiving team has no restrictions other than those on the kicker himself.
This actually makes sense because the kicking team can always to an onside kick. The odds of recovering an onside kick go up when you know the receiving team automatically retreats on the kick.