Watching college football on Saturday, I was amazed to see a kickoff returner signal for a fair-catch at his own 2 yard line. Why would he do that; make a fair catch at the 2 and pin his team there, instead of letting the ball careen into the end zone for a touchback? Then the television broadcaster announced that the receiver had elected for a touchback. What? How was that a touchback and not a fair catch?
It turns out, over the off-season, they made up a new rule in college football so anywhere inside their own 25 yard line, the kickoff receiver can signal for a fair catch which is then treated as a touchback and the ball comes out to the 25 yard-line; and no one even checked with me, or informed me!
Who knew?
I had to look it up. This is part of the overall effort to reduce high speed head-on collisions in football.
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