If you put your fastest runner (call him a gunner) behind your punter and had a kick with great hang-time could that gunner catch the ball within the 5 yard halo?
It would be an interesting thing to try out. :cowboy:
Yes you can do that, and I believe many teams have tried it, I know in high school lots of teams tried it anyways, not sure about pro sports. It's equivalent to an on side kick.
Yes it's been done; not very often mind you.
Last time I recall is a few seasons ago, Montreal had Chip Cox line up onside (behind the punter) and he raced downfield to recover the punt (memory may be failing me, but I think Stala was punting instead of Duval on that play).
Don't recall seeing it done deliberately since.
Problem with it is that it's a low-percentage play and you're increasing the risk of having the punt blocked, because that 'gunner' behind the punter is one less guy to block up front.
the problem is trying to make sure the gunner doesn't get blocked
Calgary did that successfully (resulting in a touchdown on the last play of the game) a few years ago before video replay but the play was called back as none of the refs noticed that the person who recovered the ball had lined up onside (behind the punter).
You could really blow ref minds if you had a QB who could also punt 