4th and 16 at their own 19, so no chance of a fake.
1st quarter, so a basic punt return coverage.
Moore was hurt in warm-up and you've been chosen from a random drawing, so no time to prepare; just a few minutes to suit up and then a few minutes on the sidelines to do any basic warm ups that doesn't include fielding punts.
You got plenty of sleep the night before and had a hearty breakfast 3 hours ago, including a cup of coffee, then 20oz of Dr Pepper that you finished 5 minutes before kickoff. I'd you were heading to Costco, you might pee out of the convenience of doing so, but it's not something that's on your mind.
Along with a uniform, helmet, etc; you get your choice of gloves, or to go without. You are provided standard cleats for turf that fit snugly, but not too tight.
You are currently as healthy as you can be, with no temporary issues (no non-chronic soreness or illness). You are otherwise at your current level of fitness, including any chronic/permanent issues, such as only having one arm or tennis elbow that won't ****ing go away.
It is currently sunny and 45⁰ outside, and a comfortable 72⁰ inside the dome.
The chances of me being seriously injured or dead in this scenario is pretty fucking high lol. Punt returns are dangerous for NFL players, so yeah I'd probably have a brain injury, broken bones, or be dead. You'd have to pay me a lot of money to even attempt this lol. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Detoxing:
"It'd have to be a fair catch" is kind of a given, no?
They'd probably sever my spine if i tried returning it. But catch it? I think i got a pretty good shot at catching it.
The title says that you are catching it as a Chief. We'll skip the part where you somehow made the team. But you are a Chief, fielding a punt, or punts.
Which means that it's up to you to make the decision to fair catch it or not, just like the real players have to, otherwise its a stupid question.
You have to run under a punt kicked by a NFL punter, with 10 guys racing down the field intending to break you in half. you have to judge whether you can actually try to return it or not in about 2 seconds, while running to the spot you think it's going to come down, check the oncoming horde at least once if not twice, get your feet set, check one more time as your eyes go up and track the ball, and then decide whether you're going to fair catch it or not.
All before you've read the word "punter," at the top of the above paragraph.
Originally Posted by dlphg9:
But any type of in game situation isn't going to give you those parameters and you will have to deal with some wind, spin on the ball, keeping track of that ball as NFL players are hauling ass down the field to knock the shit out of you. Fielding a punt for the Chiefs sounds like you're in the game and you're a Chiefs player.
Sure. But the question is 'field' the punt - not return it.
So if I walk on the field with nothing in mind but a fair catch, I'm gonna worry very little about the rest of those concerns.
Wind - absolutely. Placement? Maybe - but the field is what, 53 yards wide? So if I'm standing in the middle of it and he kicks it to the side of me, I have 25 yards to cover and 4 seconds to cover it in? I can do that. Maybe a little short, maybe a little deep, but it's the same as trying to track and run down a fly ball and I do that twice a week every spring/summer/fall.
I think I still have the wheels to do that. I think I can read it as well.
I mean the question may be deliberately vague, but I think you can read 'average' into it. Average conditions, average situation, average coverage....just a run of the mill punt, let's say from the opponents own 40.
You wanna make it from Colquitt in high winds and pouring rain? Sure - that's a different question. But the question wasn't 'could return every punt for the Chiefs, regardless of surrounding conditions?'.
It was 'could you field a punt for the Chiefs' and yeah, I think I could field a great deal many of them. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Detoxing:
Like DJ said, if you could more or less stand there and call a fair catch, i don't think it's that big of a deal.
But if you gotta track that mother fucker sideline to sideline and return it.....that's totally different.
What punter in the NFL kicks the equivalent of a slow pitch softball on the regular? Of course you're going to have to track the ball laterally. [Reply]
The title of the thread says "could you field a punt for the Chiefs". That implies doing it during a game. As a Chief.
There are literally dozens of situations exactly like that in any given week, where the weather is calm and the kick is mundane. It's just your simple old run of the mill 'fair catch on the 12 yard line, 42 yard net' with nothing of any real note happening.
I don't see anything bizarre about thinking it's doable to bring that ball in. [Reply]
You have to run under a punt kicked by a NFL punter, with 10 guys racing down the field intending to break you in half.
I'm calling a fair catch no matter what, so i wouldn't even bother looking at the oncoming rush. My focus would 100% be on the ball and making sure i complete the change of possession.
The only question i really have here is whether or not i have the speed and range to get under the ball.
So long as i can get myself into position to get under the ball, i'm pretty confident i can make the catch. [Reply]
Originally Posted by htismaqe:
What punter in the NFL kicks the equivalent of a slow pitch softball on the regular? Of course you're going to have to track the ball laterally.
Lots of 'em. Most of the time when they're on their own half of the 50, in fact. You see directional punting usually when they're kicking into short fields but a 'full' field isn't likely to see a severe angle on the kick. You may get 15 degrees off center but rarely do you see more than that. [Reply]
Originally Posted by htismaqe:
What punter in the NFL kicks the equivalent of a slow pitch softball on the regular? Of course you're going to have to track the ball laterally.
Like i said, if it's not wildly out of range to where i need an NFL athlete's speed to run it down, i'm pretty confident i could field it. Which happens plenty in the league. It's not like returners are sprinting 20-30 yards to get under the ball every punt.
It's entirely situational.
Could i field a DIFFICULT punt, where the wind is making the ball do weird shit and i have to sprint to get under it and then return it? Most likely not.
Could i get under a ball that's within 15 yards or so of my current position and call a fair catch? I'm confident that i could.
Both are scenarios that happen in the league. [Reply]