NFL explains why Seahawks’ double punt against the Rams was a legal play
Mike Pereira initially said this was not legal, and Fox Sports announcers Joe Buck and Troy Aikman thought this would result in a penalty.
But as it turns out, it was perfectly fine for the Seahawks’ Michael Dickson to punt the ball twice on one play.
Let’s be honest, this was a strange play from the Rams’ 26-17 win over the Seahawks on Thursday night. Dickson’s first punt was blocked so he picked up the ball, began running, stopped and punted the ball again.
It was the ‘ol double punt, something few if any fans had ever seen in a game.
“I was going to try to run for the first down, but then I just saw bodies everywhere and saw the first-down marker was like 15 yards away, and was like, ‘There’s no real chance of me getting a first down here,’ so I kind of cut back to try to kick it,” Dickson told reporters after the game. “I was ready to get crunched, but luckily I didn’t.”
Dickson, who was born in Sydney, Australia, said he leaned on past experience to pull off the double punt.
“I kind of just went back to Aussie Rules instincts, to be honest,” he said.
The NFL explained why the twice-kicked punt was allowed.
“In #LARvsSEA, the punt was blocked and recovered by the kicking team,” NFL Officiating wrote in a Twitter post. “The punter kicks the ball again from behind the line of scrimmage. This is a legal kick and the result of the play was the ball was ruled down at the 11 yard line.”
Who knew that was a legal play? Not Pereira, the former NFL referee and Fox Sports’ rules analyst. He initially said the play should be penalized, but it wasn’t.
Former Chiefs offensive lineman Mitchell Schwartz poked fun at Pereira.
Schwartz wasn’t alone as Pereira’s name was trending on Twitter after the play.
