One Muffed Punt Versus Another

[topseed]

Can somebody please explain to me why, in the infinite wisdom of the NFL rulebook, a punt which is mishandled on the 20-yard line is a fumble (obviously), but a punt which is mishandled on the 4-yard line and bounds into the end zone is not considered a fumble?

On top of it, the guy gets rewarded with the ball placed on the 20 because it happened to bounce into the end zone? How is this fair? How is this not a safety?

 

[jitter77]

There is a difference between a muff and a fumble. With a muff you never have possession. If he would have caught the ball ran then fumbled into the EZ and tackled there it would have been a safety. It is dumb to reward the guy, but its a dangerous play for the return team. One thing Im not sure is if we recovered in the EZ I believe the ball would have came out where the muff occurred. I dont think you can advance it. They are dumb rules and muff / fumbles should be the same thing

 

[topseed]

There is a difference between a muff and a fumble. With a muff you never have possession. If he would have caught the ball ran then fumbled into the EZ and tackled there it would have been a safety. It is dumb to reward the guy, but its a dangerous play for the return team. One thing Im not sure is if we recovered in the EZ I believe the ball would have came out where the muff occurred. I dont think you can advance it. They are dumb rules and muff / fumbles should be the same thing

Thanks for the attempt to explain it. I'm a little fuzzy on the muff rules myself.

If a returner doesn't call for a fair catch and makes it cleanly, it's a potentially dangerous play, because he can get blown the f*** up. So, whatever the muff rule is, how does it protect that same player if he mishandles the punt? Short answer: It doesn't.

Olszewski "muffed" his punt, never had possession of it, yet because it was recovered by the defense on the 20, it magically becomes a fumble. Makes no goddamn sense that the rules should change just because the end zone happens to be involved. A fumble is a fumble.