When Can a Punt Gunner Touch the Ball After Going Out of Bounds?
Updated: Oct 10
A kicking team player who goes out of bounds during an NFL punt cannot simply return and become the first player to touch that kick beyond the line of scrimmage. A qualifying touch by someone else must occur first.
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This restriction applies whether he left voluntarily or was legally forced out. Whether leaving the field was a foul is a separate question.
What restores touching eligibility?
Before the returning player touches or recovers beyond the line, the ball must be touched by a kicking team player who has not gone out of bounds, or by a receiving team player beyond the line.
He also must reestablish himself inbounds. Both conditions matter: being physically back on the field is not enough by itself.
If he returns and illegally touches first, the foul carries five yards. If the illegal touching occurs inside the receiving team's 5, the receivers also have a touchback option.
Two different outcomes
A gunner is forced out, returns promptly and downs an otherwise untouched punt at the 10. His initial exit may have been legal, but his first touch after returning violates this rule.
Now change the sequence: the returner muffs the ball before the gunner recovers. The receiving team touch beyond the line can restore the gunner's eligibility. His legal recovery beyond the line makes the ball dead and can give the kicking team a new series.
That is different from ordinary first touching, a violation that normally carries a placement option rather than this five yard foul.
Touching while still outside
If the player touches the kick before reestablishing inbounds, the ball is out of bounds at that spot. That contact is not the same as the Article 3 foul for touching after returning. A separate foul for his earlier conduct can still matter.
On replay, follow the sideline route, the return inbounds and the intervening touches in that order.
Keep reading
Punt gunner duties: Place the rule in the coverage role.
Muffed punts: Understand the touch that can reopen recovery rights.
Punts near the goal line: Learn why boundary details change field position.
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Rules reviewed October 10, 2026. Source: 2026 NFL Rulebook, Rule 9 Section 2 Article 3.
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