Quote:
Originally Posted by bcl1127
Don't quote me, but the NFL defined spearing as something different than we are all used to. Apparently the player being hit with the crown of the helmet needed to be on the ground for it to be spearing in the NFL.
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That's approximately the Fed & NCAA provision too; it's just that Fed & NCAA include other cases where the ball is dead. What this change does is include the runner in NFL's version of butt blocking.
As to the tuck rule, it sure makes sense to get rid of that. What NFL had been saying by their previous provision is that once it appears a player has started a ball motion intended to be a forward pass, it's a forward pass if the ball comes loose and goes in any direction even if the runner no longer intended it to be a pass of any kind. It being impossible to tell if a pump fake was intended, or the player changed his mind on a forward pass, it meant that anyone who was pump faking forward and had the ball come out was deemed to have made a forward pass unless he started another forward pumping action or otherwise held the ball up as for a pass. Without the tuck rule, you need only look at the direction the ball is taking from when the motion started, rather than ruling on whether a forward pass was originally intended.