To be honest, because going after a QB would be a "problem". The NFL protects QBs more than any position in any sport. They're treated like Gods, and the top guys even more so.
I know you're being factitious, but it's true. If a guy ran into a kicker, no one would really bat an eyelash. It happens pretty regularly. Rolling up a QB's knee isn't.
Kickers and punters get run into now and then, but rarely hard enough to get hurt while actually kicking the ball. If a team lost their final kicker/punter off the day on a blatant cheap shot, on national television during a playoff game, the league would flip out.
Much of the same rules that protect qbs also protect kickers/punters, but we don't think about it much because injuries on those plays are rarer for specialists, and rarely has the loss of a kicker or punter affected the outcome of a season. If a Colt hit gostowski hard enough and late enough to get himself ejected, there would be trouble.
I know you're being factitious, but it's true. If a guy ran into a kicker, no one would really bat an eyelash. It happens pretty regularly. Rolling up a QB's knee isn't.
Kickers and punters get run into now and then, but rarely hard enough to get hurt while actually kicking the ball. If a team lost their final kicker/punter off the day on a blatant cheap shot, on national television during a playoff game, the league would flip out.
Much of the same rules that protect qbs also protect kickers/punters, but we don't think about it much because injuries on those plays are rarer for specialists, and rarely has the loss of a kicker or punter affected the outcome of a season. If a Colt hit gostowski hard enough and late enough to get himself ejected, there would be trouble.