|
Ask yourself what the point of the rule is.
It's to keep people out of that area between the LINE (where tackles and guards and ends are) and the BACKFIELD (where backs are). A WR or flanker (or TE) must line up so that he is not breaking the plane of the waist of the farthest player out on the line, on his side - if he's in front of that plane, he's on the line. If he's behind it, he's a back. If he's neither, he's illegal.
Guards must line up similarly - not breaking the plane of the waist of the player he's next to.
The NCAA wording of this rule actually includes the statement "of the nearest team A player (Except the snapper)"... but the intent of these rules is the same.
Now ... we've written this rule to keep people out of that zone, but we have to make an exception for the QB, so that he can receive the snap. Hence the current wording of this rule.
A player, lined up behind tackle, IS a back, regardless of where his hands are. It is absurd to imply that a player's hand position changes him from a back to "not a back", and thus illegal.
|