Punt or kick returner

[bulldog1150]

If a returner is trying to field a bouncing kick near the sidelines and the defenders are closing in, can they just bat the ball out of bounds instead of taking the risk of trying to field the ball.

I'm watching the Tech bowl game and Stroman just fielded a punt one handed and stepped out inside the 10 near the sideline instead of taking the chance of it bouncing near the goal line. Could he have knocked it out of bounds without any penalty?

 

[White hat]

If a returner is trying to field a bouncing kick near the sidelines and the defenders are closing in, can they just bat the ball out of bounds instead of taking the risk of trying to field the ball.

I'm watching the Tech bowl game and Stroman just fielded a punt one handed and stepped out inside the 10 near the sideline instead of taking the chance of it bouncing near the goal line. Could he have knocked it out of bounds without any penalty?

Nope. That would be illegal batting.

The only time a loose ball can be intentionally batted is if a member of the KICKING team bats it toward his own goal line (backward, so as to keep it from going into the endzone).

 

[VAOfficial]

If a returner is trying to field a bouncing kick near the sidelines and the defenders are closing in, can they just bat the ball out of bounds instead of taking the risk of trying to field the ball.

I'm watching the Tech bowl game and Stroman just fielded a punt one handed and stepped out inside the 10 near the sideline instead of taking the chance of it bouncing near the goal line. Could he have knocked it out of bounds without any penalty?

The key point here is that R cannot bat (the batting definition is "intentionally slapping or striking the ball") a kick at any time. But, any player may legally bat a pass or fumble while it is still in flight. Once it is no longer airborne and is grounded, a pass (backward) or fumble cannot be batted.

The only exception to the airborne pass is that a member of the passing team cannot bat an airborne backward pass in the forward direction.