Quote:
Originally Posted by bisonlj
I believe R can also be guilty of illegal participation if they INTENTIONALLY go out of bounds and return. You would have to determine they intentionally stepped out of bounds to apply that rule here. I also think you can't call IP because they don't actually return (they are still out of bounds).
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I would say that doing as the player on TV did -- leaving one foot OOB and stretching in bounds to touch the ball -- would make it clear the player was intentionally
remaining OOB. The moment the player acts in a way that makes clear he's aware and taking advantage of being OOB, I'd say the player has "gone" OOB intentionally. The only question that was argued here was whether touching the ball constituted "return". It certainly fits an intuitive understanding of "participation", which is the label if not the actual wording of the rules provision, and I think it fits the spirit of "illegal participation", which is to not allow players to effectively extend the field for themselves by taking advantage of a boundary.
Robert