I'm not really seeing what the Steeler player did wrong here. It is a vicious hit but it seems to me that it ought to be within the rules and spirit of the game. I did not know that kickers and punters are ruled "defenseless" throughout the play. That doesn't make a whole lot of sense.
Here the punter is clearly trying to stop the Steeler kick returner from scoring so another Steeler player
stops him.
That's what he's supposed to do. If he lets that punter make the play, I think the coaches would let him hear about it during film session and being a rookie, he might not have a job the following week. I'm all for player safety but I don't think any one position ought to be safer than any other. If you step on the field and are part of the action, you're liable to get hit. It's a vicious brutal game but
I thought this was a clean hit. You're absolutely correct. The hit was clean and officials were not reprimanded because it was not deemed to be a penalty. The block generated media discussion and the NFL in typical form with eyes always focused on saving their butts from suits imposed an arbitrary punishment.
Until now, never in the history of the NFL were punters regarded as per se defenseless. In the 70s there were kickers and punters, who would make tackles downfield. If the punters today are not to be blocked and truly are defenseless, they should be required to run off the field as soon as they punt and be penalized for loitering on the field if they do not leave the field. In the alternative, if they are truly defenseless, they should wear numberless bright pink jerseys to differentiate them from players, and therefore when they are downfield in the midst of ten of his teammates, opposing players mayrecognize him as a non-player, who can not participate in the outcome of the play.
The "defenseless" designation is ridiculously applied. In the Steeler game against the Dolphins, they called a penalty for a hit (not to the head) on a defenseless player. The "defenseless player" at the time was carrying the ball and attempting to stretch for the first down.
