In some codes of football, a punt is a play in which a player drops the ball and kicks it before it touches the ground. A punt is in contrast to a drop kick, in which the ball touches the ground before being kicked.
In American and Canadian football, the ball is kicked downfield to the opposing team, usually on the final down, with the hope of giving the receiving team a field position that is more advantageous to the kicking team when possession changes. In rugby football codes, the ball may be punted in open play by any player in order to gain field position, or a short-high punt known as an up and under kick in an attempt to disrupt the defensive line.
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The team in possession of the ball will typically punt the ball to the opposing team when they are on their final down (fourth down in American football, third down in Canadian football) in such a field position that they do not believe they can successfully make a field goal, and, given the game situation, they do not want to risk a turnover on downs in that part of the field if they fail to reach the first down marker. The purpose of a punt is for the team in possession, or "kicking team", to move the ball towards the opponent's end zone in order to maximize the length the opposing team (the "receiving team") must advance the ball in order to score a touchdown when they take possession of the ball.
A punt play involves the kicking team lining up at the line of scrimmage with the kicker, or punter, lined up usually 15 yards behind the center (in American football this distance is shortened if the ball is on a spot such that the kicker's normal position is on or beyond the end line). The receiving team lines up with one or two players downfield to catch the ball. The center makes a long snap to the kicker who then drops the ball and kicks it before it hits the ground. The player who catches the ball is then entitled to attempt to advance the ball.
The result of a typical punt, barring any penalties or extraordinary circumstances, is a first down for the receiving team at the spot where:
On very rare occasions, a punting team will elect to attempt a "fake punt" — line up in punt formation and begin the process as normal, but instead do one of the following:
Although teams sometimes use fake punts to exploit a weakness in the opposing team's defense, a fake punt is very rare, and often used in desperate situations, such as to keep a drive alive when a team is behind and needs to catch up quickly, or to spark an offense in a game where the defense dominates. The high risk and low success rate of "fake punts", combined with the need to maintain an element of surprise when the play is actually called, explains why this play is seldom seen.
One of the most famous fake punts was by New York Giants linebacker Gary Reasons during the 1990 NFC Championship Game against the San Francisco 49ers, in which he rushed for 30 yards on a fourth down conversion via a direct snap to him instead of the punter, Sean Landeta, which was a critical difference in a 15-13 victory. The Giants went on to win Super Bowl XXV.
The longest punt in North American pro football history is a 108-yarder by Zenon Andrusyshyn of the CFL's Toronto Argonauts (at Edmonton, October 23, 1977).[1] This record was also tied by Christopher Milo of the Saskatchewan Roughriders on October 29, 2011, at a home game at Mosaic Stadium in Regina, during which winds gusted above 35 miles per hour (56 km/h) (this is also the site of the three longest field goals in CFL history and one of the windiest fields in professional football).
The longest punt in NFL play was a 98-yarder by Steve O'Neal of the New York Jets in an American Football League game played against the Denver Broncos on September 21, 1969.[2]
Jeff Feagles is the all-time NFL career punts and punt yards leader with 1,713 punts and 71,211 punt yards over 352 games.[3]
Bob Cameron is the all-time career punts and punt yards leader with 3,129 punts and 134,301 punt yards over 394 games.[4]
The record for college football is held by the University of Nevada’s Pat Brady, who booted the longest possible punt on a 100-yard field at 99 yards against Loyola University on October 28, 1950.[5]
Joe Theismann punted for one yard against the Chicago Bears in 1985.[6][7]
A punt in Rugby union can be contrasted with a drop kick which is taken at a 22-meter dropout, kickoff, or drop-goal attempt. The main purpose of the punt is usually a bid to gain field position, where the ball is kicked by any player (but usually by back-line players such as scrum-half, fly-half or fullback) up the field and out of bounds (in touch), forcing a line-out contest. The lineout is usually taken in the same position where the ball went out of play, however, the ball must make contact with the ground before leaving the field or the lineout is taken from the position of the ball when it was kicked instead, unless the kicker was inside his own 22-meter line, or the kick was taken from a penalty where the ball is allowed to leave play without bouncing. The other main type of punt is known as the up and under kick and launches the ball high into the air, but without traveling far along the field of play. The purpose of this kind of kick is to disrupt the defensive line (who will scramble in attempt to retrieve the ball) while attempting to retrieve the ball for one's own team. However, the up and under is used sparingly because of the risk of losing possession without gaining field position.
In Rugby union, a team can elect one of four ways to take a penalty, being to run with the ball, take a scrum, kick at goal, or punt the ball. Where the team chooses to punt the ball, the punter may kick the ball out of bounds without making contact with the ground first, and the throw at the lineout is awarded to the non-infringing team.
A punt return is one of the punt receiving team's options to respond to a punt. A player positioned about 35–45 yards, from the line of scrimmage will attempt to catch or pick up the ball after it is punted by the opposing team's punter. He then attempts to carry the ball as far as possible back in the direction of the line of scrimmage, without being tackled or running out of bounds. Players may also lateral the ball to other players on their team, to keep the play alive if he expects to be tackled or go out of bounds. DeSean Jackson of the Philadelphia Eagles was the first (and so far only) player to return a punt for a touchdown on the final play of a NFL game for a win from scrimmage.[8] The NFL record for the number of punt returns for a touchdown in a career increased to 11 and is held by Devin Hester of the Chicago Bears who achieved the feat with a 69 yard return against the Carolina Panthers on October 2, 2011. He was previously tied with Eric Metcalf.