Chizz, most of the NFL’s rules changes are for Kick Offs, not punts. Punt returners have been protected for as long as I can remember and 1P can’t prove otherwise. You and I can remember wedges and wedge busters on KO’s. Thats what the NFL got rid of. The wedge would lock arms and take on wedge busters. It was a violent collision amongst big men. That was abolished. They also moved The KO up. Most kicks go into the end zone and most teams don’t want to return it because they get it at the 25. KOs are mostly useless now. Actually, returners are the safest place to be. Originally Posted by bambinoLOL I posted a video montage of dozens of punt returners getting legally blasted as soon as they caught the ball, as well as a few illegal ones where the gunner got the timing wrong. They've only been protected "for as long as you can remember" if they called for a fair catch. Otherwise you only had to give them a yard. Perfectly timing the hit was an art form.
If they were protected as much as you claim, why would anyone call for a fair catch other than deep in their own end? There are many examples of people calling for a fair catch because they didn't want to get legally blasted by a perfectly timed hit that they would have been defenseless against.