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I agree it should read legally. How does it make any sense at all that the clock starts when it should never start?
If there is a kick on an inbounds thrown in... a goal tend or BI on a throw-in or ball gets caught on a sideline OOB ( which actually means that the ball was never legally inbounded in my opinion but that's something for another post).
It seems fundamentally unfair( of course we know that not all rules are fair) that a team could lose time because the other team violates and continue to gain an unfair advantage in that violation. To stretch this scenario a little. all the team has to do is kick the ball on the inbounds play four to six times on defense and the offense does not have a chance to even get a shot off.
Now a little more realistic play... Team A is down by 2 points, and have the ball OOB near the 28 ft line. 1.6 seconds left on the clock. Plenty of time to catch and make a good shot that could do some damage. Inbounds throw in is kicked and a "reasonable" 1.3 seconds runs off the clock. It does not seem right to tell the coach that now he has only a tap to get his win because of the defense's kick. Of course it is the rule but may be an editorial issue that needs to be brought up...
It is clear the violation is the touch. Now how many officials in all honesty chop the time in and then blow the whistle for the violation. It seems to me part of the reason NF wants us to keep up an open hand is to tell them to keep the clock stopped... I've also been given a rationale by other senior NF officials is that mechanic is there so that if there is something that happens we dont have to raise the hand. The violation happens simultaneously with the touch, I think it is ridiculous to take time off the clock because of the lag time rule.It is ironic to note that the jump ball provision has the ball legally being touched as the time to start the clock.
There I'm off my soap box but this rule, like the opening tip A/P garbage on a catch need to be re-written so they are fair and use common sense
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