I am a very rare watcher of American Football. I am a big watcher of Australian Rules Football. I have been interested in watching the careers of various ex Rules players who have been recruited as punters. Darren Bennett being the most successful. I was therefore interested to see that another ex Rules player had been recruited in Sav Rocca and caught footage of him this week punting and then being hit late and having his helmet knocked off. The commentators were critical of the individual that hit Rocca. Being not too sure of the rules I have a question to those of you that are in the know. Was that hit legal? If not why was not the player penalised?
The footage is here and is called "Rocca's NFL welcome hit".
Video - Herald Sun