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I have never been a football fan, but due to various circumstances I went to a few high school games as a kid. I do not have the football vocabulary for everything in this situation and therefore my attempts to research fell flat.

One thing that I remember happening several times was a few players gathering in a tight circle around the ball. This was during gameplay, not any type of huddle. I believe this would have been related to a punt, and the players would gather around the ball until it came to a rest.

I have watched a few NFL games and have never seen this happen. A punt is caught by the defending team and they try to run it back.

Is my memory creating a thing that never happened, or what is this play that I remember? Is there a difference in the high school rules that makes this not happen in NFL?

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This is common -- at all levels, high school, college, and NFL -- on punts. After the ball is punted, a few different things can commonly occur:

  • a player from the receiving team catches the ball (either "on the fly" or after a bounce) and attempts to advance. Players from the kicking team try to tackle the receiver.
  • a player from the receiving team makes a "fair catch" -- they catch the ball on the fly and make no attempt to advance. The play is dead at that point and the kicking team are not allowed to make contact with the receiver
  • no player from the receiving team tries to possess the ball. This is likely what you have seen: The ball will be "downed" at the point a member of the kicking team first touches the ball or if no one does, wherever the ball comes to rest*. Until the ball is downed or at complete rest, it would be legal for a receiving team member to grab the ball and attempt to advance, so it is common for members of the kicking team to surround the ball, especially if it is slowly rolling backwards (from the receiving team perspective). The kicking team is gaining a (slight) advantage in yardage and by surrounding the ball, making it highly unlikely that a receiving team member will risk trying to get the ball.

My (admittedly anecdotal) experience is that at the high school level it is much more common for no receiving member to attempt to catch the ball, while in the NFL one of the first two outcomes listed above is much more likely.

(*) There are a few details about exactly how and when a ball is "downed" on a kick, but this is the basic idea.

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  • Very interesting! Could you provide any insight on why the discrepancy exists? Specifically your note that "at the high school level it is much more common for no receiving member to attempt to catch the ball, while in the NFL one of the first two outcomes listed above is much more likely." Commented 2 days ago
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    @TJM, a professional player is more likely to have the skill to figure out where the ball is going to land, and the speed to reach that spot. Commented 2 days ago
  • @TJM NFL has very good punters and good receivers. These positions are much less consistent in HS. This means that not catching a punt has less downside in HS both because the punt is usually shorter and you don't risk the receiver muffing the catch and giving the punting team a possible recovery. Commented 2 days ago
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    I would add that there are times when it is to the receiving team's advantage not to field the ball, especially if it lands near the end zone. If it goes into the end zone without being downed, it is a touchback, which is much better field position than they are likely to get returning it from that far back. In this case, the kicking team will want to down the ball before it enters the end zone, but as close to the end zone as possible, so they will surround it and wait until the last moment to stop it from entering the end zone. Commented yesterday

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