I have 2 questions that are bout a bit outlandish but I have observed situations similar this year as I've watched football in Central Ohio.
1 - On Kickoffs/punts -I have been told by other fans that any member of the receiving team can signal for a fair catch while any other member of the receiving team (who did not signal) is able to catch the ball and not be penalized as it would be blown dead at the spot in which the ball was caught. To the best of my knowledge if this player, who caught the ball, while a teammate signaled for a fair catch, takes off and runs once he catches it,...that would be a penalty? So what prevents a receiving team from having a play with two returners back deep on a punt - the ball kicked to the right - the returner on the left, lets say all the way across the field, signals fair catch and the returner on the right who fields the kick embraces/protects himself and absorbs a hit from the kicking team thus drawing a penalty and improving field position? Is there something in the rules that keeps a team from doing this ?
2 - Team A possesses the ball and has the lead (+3) with 9 seconds left in game. They have fourth down and don't want to punt because they have had trouble with snap and blocking up front on punt play. They call a play which lines up 4 guys split out to the right - Team A Qb rolls deep and to the right and after taking about 6 seconds off the clock turns and throws a bomb deep to the left side where no receivers or defenders are at. The play ends and the game clock is at 0. As this is a legal forward pass, and as it qualifies as intentional grounding, a loss of down occurs. With the penalty still taking place while Team A possessed the ball - is Team B still granted an untimed down? does a "dead ball" call have any impact on this outcome?
Thanks in advance. Im an old timer trying to keep up with the rules and love reading this stuff on here.