Cooper DeJean practicing punt returns this week...

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My favorite part of this whole discussion is this; Iowa fans saying the rule is too vague and under it, a player could be called for an invalid catch by just running normally. I'll concede that maybe the rule is too vague and gives too much room for referee interpretation. But I'm not sure there is any world where a clarified rule wouldn't include what Dejean did (maybe if the rule specified that any signal has to go over the shoulder, but even then he was at least close).Such a natural running motion.
What's vague about the rule? If the returner makes any kind of waiving signal, it's a dead ball at the spot the ball is fielded.My favorite part of this whole discussion is this; Iowa fans saying the rule is too vague and under it, a player could be called for an invalid catch by just running normally. I'll concede that maybe the rule is too vague and gives too much room for referee interpretation. But I'm not sure there is any world where a clarified rule wouldn't include what Dejean did (maybe if the rule specified that any signal has to go over the shoulder, but even then he was at least close).
The rule is just vague as to what a waving signal is. "Any waving signal" leaves quite a bit of room for interpretation. Not in Dejean's case, because he clearly was waving to the point that it wasn't that far off from being a valid signal. But if referees focus in on the rule, I could see a lot of possible gray area when a returner is both trying to field a punt and pay attention to his blockers and the opponents' gunners and sometimes does point or make a motion before the catch that is kind of a wave, but not really. For instance, I saw a fan on Reddit arguing that the returner on this play should have been called for an invalid signal for the motions he had with his arms before he caught the punt. Not to mention the fans who seem to think that any returner moving his arms while running could be called for an invalid signal.What's vague about the rule? If the returner makes any kind of waiving signal, it's a dead ball at the spot the ball is fielded.
The rule is in place specifically to prevent a returner from giving an ambiguous signal that gives them an advantage over the coverage team that can't be sure if a fair catch was called or not.
Which is exactly what happened on Saturday.
gaining two yards of offense in the second half in a loss and the media is only talking about a fair caught punt. That is next level.Serious "pay no attention to the man behind the curtain" vibes going on by the entire SUI press corps.
100% focused on the punt return (which, "THE DAY AFTER", is still the correct call) and 0% focused on how the offense couldn't be trusted to gain 20 yards in order to try a game-winning FG.
Capt Kirk referenced this same “man behind the curtain” whine in his postgame presser so they’re just following the piper’s lead.Serious "pay no attention to the man behind the curtain" vibes going on by the entire SUI press corps.
100% focused on the punt return (which, "THE DAY AFTER", is still the correct call) and 0% focused on how the offense couldn't be trusted to gain 20 yards in order to try a game-winning FG.