You are correct that they did not hit him BEFORE the ball arrived, as with an interference call on a WR.

However, the rules recognize that a KR guy is defenseless waiting for the ball to come down, so they have a well-established rule that spreads out to the front and to both sides, giving him a cushion of width of shoulders + one yard, on all sides.

The refs and both ESPN guys IMMEDIATELY recognized that #17 did interfere with Milne's ability to catch, where the rules define 'interfere' in not given him that well-established cushion.

Your interpretation would destroy the KR game of all teams, because there is not a dependable KR guy in the country who could CONSISTENTLY catch a punt, if cover guys could be within one inch of the KR guy, until the ball arrived, and then hammer him. If you'd prefer a more lenient rule, such as 10 inches in all directions, that would still cause many fumbles oro muffs, and probably increase the injury factor to KR guys.

This was debated and debated years ago. The rules committee came up with the shoulder width plus one yard more, because no team wants their KR guy lit up by defenders within inches of him, and then hammered.

'Interfere' is clearly defined in the rules. The officials quickly called it, because the one defender had clearly violated the rule as written.