Quote:
Originally Posted by Robert Goodman
They didn't want it used as a means of passing the ball.
In Canadian football it was allowed as a means of controlling but not advancing a forward pass. So, until about 20 yrs. ago, if one player deflected the ball forward to a teammate who would've been eligible to receive the original, the teammate could still catch it, and the play would be ruled "completed pass followed by offside pass", the point at which the ball was deflected or batted taken as the point of completion of one pass and origin of another, the 2nd being illegal, so loss of down at that point. It's still possible in Canadian football to have a completed forward pass chain with an illegal link somewhere in it, depending on receiver eligibility.
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I thought an illegal forward lateral would cover the part of the double touch if the receiver actually had control of the ball. It baffles me to a certain extent, but I wonder if anything like a double touch has ever happened on a Hail Mary. I could see an illegal tip to another offensive player in this situation happening.
We would work on tip drills on defense back in the day. Doubtful double touching wasn't a high school rule [if ever] then I suppose.
I like the old NFL films when they show Harley (?) of the 49'ers throwing the elbow to the head making a tackle, and knocking the runner unconsciene. You also had to physically have the ball carrier on the ground for them to be considered down at one point also.