fair catch

[ fair kach ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

, Football.

a catch of a kicked ball in which the receiver signals that they will not advance the ball and therefore may not be interfered with or tackled.

First recorded in 1855–60

Harris punted high and short and Chambers made a fair catch on her forty-two yards.

Wentworth made a fair-catch and punted on second down, after a plunge at right tackle had netted two yards.

Caldwell was down under it like a flash, but Birch, of the Army, made a fair catch and kicked back for twenty yards.

"It is not a fair catch," broke in the executive officer incisively.

The only remaining way to advance the ball is on a free-kick after a fair catch, as in the English game.

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