A member of the receiving team may not run into or rough a kicker who kicks from behind his line unless contact is:
(a) Incidental to and after he had touched ball in flight.
(b) Caused by kicker’s own motions.
The defender was in mid-air before the kickers foot was planted. Both contributed to the contact which makes the 5 yard penalty completely appropriate.
You seem to misunderstand the intent of item b in the rule. When a punter kicks, he leaves the ground completely, with the “plant” foot coming down first, after the ball has been kicked. The punter’s motion in this instance was completely normal, which means he did nothing (beyond kicking the ball) to occupy the space you wish to claim for the Seattle player.
Part (b) was intended to prevent the kicker from altering his normal motion to cause the contact.
If the Seattle player had been caught under the plant foot, you might have a legitimate claim. As it is, the kicker’s ankle was turned by the seahawk’s shoulder pads at ground level. That means the kicker’s foot (which was also the result of a “launch”) was there first.
The announcers also stated that the interpretation was that hitting the kicking leg was running into, whereas the plant leg was roughing.
Sorry - but the refs screwed it up, and your novel interpretation of the rule is designed to break a punter’s leg. The Seattle player was supposed to launch himself in FRONT of where the punter kicks the ball to avoid contact and have a chance at the block. Where he ended up tells me it was roughing.
I will say this. If your interesting interpretation is correct, then I hope the Seattle punter becomes the epitome of its application.