Talk:Punt (gridiron football)

message: Someone mentions a 198 yard punt. Somehow I don't think that's even remotely possible. You'd have to kick the ball clean out of the stadium. And even if you did, yardage from punts is measured from the line of scrimmage to where the ball is downed. The longest punt possible is the length of the ball from one's own end zone to the length of the ball from the opposing end zone (so it does not break either plane.) In other words, just over 99.5 yards.
I checked, and the record is 98... might have just been a typo or someone being silly, either way, it's corrected now 132.42.128.28 11:34, 13 November 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: 198 eh?

message: This page is a prime candidate for a .gif image showing a punter in motion. bd2412 T 03:11, 30 January 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Moving picture? 

message: The following seems self-contradictory:
A player from the receiving team must be the first player to touch the ball after it has been kicked in American football; if the kicking team touches it first it is dead at the point that they touch it and the receiving team receives possession there.  The only exception to this is that if the ball continues on into the end zone after the kicking team touches it then a touchback is called, and the receiving team gains possession at its own 20-yard line rather than at the point the ball was touched by the kicking team.
If the ball is dead as soon as it is touched, the play is immediately over, so if the ball then rolls into the endzone (between plays), how can that affect anything? Something's wrong here, but I don't know American rules well enough to make the correction myself. Indefatigable 18:34, 16 October 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Contradiction 

message: May I suggest breaking the rules section into two separate section, having one cover American football rules, and the other cover Canadian football.  As it stands now, it is very hard to follow. Ramsquire (throw me a line) 00:22, 28 November 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Breaking Sections

message: if the kicking team touches it first it is called illegal touching (first touching under NFHS), and the receiving team may choose to take possession at the spot of illegal touching touching or elect to have the result of the down.
The NFL.com rule digest says "12. Any member of the punting team may down the ball anywhere in the field of play. However, it is illegal touching (Official’s time out and receiver’s ball at spot of illegal touching). This foul does not offset any foul by receivers during the down."
This doesn't imply any choice for the receiving team. While I don't have a copy of the rulebook, so it may say something different, it does answer my question when reading this article of "how do they have the choice if they never get the ball to complete the play?". Can someone clarify? TheHYPO 22:43, 2 December 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  illegal touching 

message: I can't tell from the rules section in this article whether if a receiving player fields the ball and is tackled in his own endzone, it counts as a touchback or a safety.  Can someone who knows the rules better than me clarify that? Reyemile (talk) 20:35, 26 January 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Touchbacks and Safeties 

message: Drop punt and Torpedo punt into this article Punt (football) as they seem to describe different ways to kick the ball, and are not different tactics. If they are merged in to sections of the same name then redirects can be linked into those sections. --PBS (talk) 23:57, 6 June 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Merge [[Drop punt]] and [[Torpedo punt]] into this article  

message: "A punt is in contrast to a drop kick, in which the ball touches the ground before being kicked."  I don't follow sport[s] much at all, but surely this doesn't apply to American football. Kicking an American football on the bounce would be quite a feat of agility. Perhaps add "Except in American football [and rugby?]" to the front of the statement. Or qualify it by listing the sports where on-the-bounce drop kicks do happen. Jdrum00 (talk) 12:57, 25 October 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  Distinction from drop kick doesn't always apply 

message: Re: the banner on the article page proposing a merger with punt kick. I oppose this proposed merger: what I would suggest is that this article be moved to Punt (gridiron football), and that drop punt, torpedo punt, checkside punt, etc. all be merged into punt kick. Fundamentally, the punt in the context of the gridiron football codes is a discussion about the specific details about the special teams play; but, all of the other articles are about the skill, execution and physics of different punt kicks, which should be presented in a sport-neutral format. These articles should meet distinct aims, and should therefore be separate. Aspirex (talk) 10:55, 10 May 2012 (UTC)
replies: text: I could go with that. The rugby union section should be moved to punt kick and this renamed to exclusively focus Gridiron. Maybe a very trimmed down version could be written in punt kick with a  pointing here. AIRcorn (talk) 07:00, 4 July 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  Proposed mergers 

message: I understand that the article is directed to people possessing at least a passing familiarity with the sport, but perhaps the introduction could be a bit clearer for people who simply heard about "punting" somewhere and just want to know what that is—it took me a while to grasp the basic fact that it's a kick, and others might not get it at all. Waltham, The Duke of 09:26, 19 November 2014 (UTC)
replies: text: Thanks for pointing this out. I have added a basic explanation to the first sentence. I have been making minor tweaks to this article for years, but I need to remind myself to once in while read articles as if seeing them for the first time with no knowledge of the subject. Indefatigable (talk) 17:17, 20 November 2014 (UTC)
replies: text:  I sympathise; deep knowledge of a subject is practically impossible to ignore, and seeing it with a layman's eyes once again is easier said than done. As in this case, it generally takes an outsider, and I appreciate your rapid response to my suggestion. The introductory sentence is now wonderfully clear to people like me. Waltham, The Duke of 12:12, 26 November 2014 (UTC)
thread_title:  Lead is rather technical... 

message: There is a move discussion in progress on Talk:Reception (American football) which affects this page. Please participate on that page and not in this talk page section. Thank you.  —RMCD bot 07:59, 9 July 2015 (UTC)
thread_title: Move discussion in progress

message: The description begins with this sentence: 
:"A punt in gridiron football is a drop kick performed by dropping the ball from the hands and then kicking the ball before it hits the ground."
But, the article on "drop kick" requires the ball to contact the ground before the kick, while the quoted sentence says, for a punt, the ball is kicked before it hits the ground."  So, which is correct? Is a punt a drop kick or not? SlowJog (talk) 19:42, 9 September 2018 (UTC)
replies: text: Despite the fact that a punt involves dropping and kicking, it is not a drop kick. Back when drop kicks were a common part of the game, this would have been clear to everyone, but the rarity of drop kicks now obviously has some editors confused. Indefatigable (talk) 13:21, 11 September 2018 (UTC)
thread_title:  Drop kick or not?