You can’t fair catch a punt that has bounced.
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I believe you might be referring to a play where he "motioned" and yelled at his teammates to get out to the way as the punt was kicked short and he ran up and caught and took off. The officials took his arm motion as a fair catch signal even though I don't remember his arms going above his head.
Correct. A fair catch can only happen if the ball is "caught." By definition, a catch is gaining possession of a ball in flight. A recovery is gaining possession of a ball that has been grounded.
If you give any signal as a member of the return team, the ball will become dead immediately when possessed. If the signal is a valid fair catch signal and the ball is caught, you have a fair catch. If the ball is caught, only the player who signaled is protected, but you also can't tee off on a player who caught it when someone else gives the signal.
If the return player gives the get away signal, it's an invalid signal. There is no penalty other than the return team can't advance it once possessed. You could get a delay of game penalty if you do continue to advance it, but that is rarely called.
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