Receiver Out of Bounds

[tnroundballref]

Had a play Monday night and would like some help from the gallery.

I am LJ of 4 man crew - HS JV game.

QB rolls to my side and receiver takes off downfield to run his pattern. As he makes his move, his right foot goes OOB. He then continues to run his pattern and the QB throws him a pass. The ball is overthrown and the receiver never touches the ball.


I threw a flag at the spot where the receiver went out. My white hat asked me what happened and I told him. He said we have nothing since the receiver never touched the ball and waived off my flag.

Thoughts and comments are welcome.

[Snake~eyes]

http://www.officialforum.com/thread/10330

[Simbio]

I know that according to the rules, what the receiver did is a penalty, but where he only stepped on the line and didn't necessarily go all the way out of bounds, I wouldn't think it would give any sort of advantage or throw the defender off at all. My question would then be, would you really want to call something which seems so ticky-tack? Does it cause that big of an impact to the play? Is it worth calling? I would think you could probably just do some preventative officiating and warn the player instead of flagging him. What do you guys think?

[Edited by Simbio on Oct 8th, 2003 at 10:40 AM]

[tnroundballref]

I think if it happens on a sideline where the coach knows the rule and you don't call it....you've got trouble.

[Bob M.]

REPLY: Technically, you have an illegal participation foul at the spot where the receiver returned. While the R's heart may have been in the right place, flag or no flag has nothing to do with whether or not the receiver touched the ball. In NCAA rules, if he did touch the ball, it's an illegal touch and the penalty is loss of down at the previous spot (same as if it was an incomplete pass). But in Federation rules, there is no significance attributed to whether or not the receiver touches the pass.

[BktBallRef]

Originally posted by tnroundballref
I think if it happens on a sideline where the coach knows the rule and you don't call it....you've got trouble.

"Coach, he didn't leave intentionally, and he didn't gain an advantage by doing. If you're player stepped on the line, I wouldn't call and I'm not calling it on their player either."

"Coach, I didn't see him step out."

Take your pick.

[insatty]

This is a tough call for this HL in a 5-man crew. The rule's spirit is to prevent A's unfair advantage by avoiding a block or improving his pattern. In this situation, A's foot unintentionally touches the line with no advantage gained. So when it's that close, I lean toward giving the benefit of the doubt to A and no call.

[Simbio]

BktBallRef, I think I'll go with the second....lol.....

[Theisey]

If a runner stepped on the sideline accidentally on his way for a TD right in front of the opposing team bench/coach, are you going to let that go?
I don't think so.
You might get away with "I didn't see it" once.

If the receiver doesn't actually catch a pass you might have a case for ignoring it. Unless of course team B also fouled during the play. That receiver very well could take it in for a TD.

My take is this should be a flag. My opinion is for the NF to change the rule to match the NCAA. This Illegal Participation penalty is a little to stiff for such a petty situation.

[Simbio]

I agree, if you had an actual ball carrier step on the line, you definitely have him out of bounds. But a receiver stepping on the line during a pass pattern.....? I might turn my head.......But yes, it is a penalty.....

[WVREF]

Agree with Theisy the NF needs to change this rule. Any rule so many people want to ignore can't be a good rule.

[KWH]

Since their were no defensive fouls on the play and the reciever that was participating illegally did not catch the ball it is real easy to sit back and say I pass on this one.
But lets not make this a rule to ignore it...

Because,
1) If the reciever who went out of bounds voluntarily catches the football and advances (or scores) you must have a flag for illegal participation to offset the illegal advance, (or score).

2) If any defensive foul occurs at any time during the play (including DPI against the offensive reciever who went out of bounds) you must have a flag for illegal participation to offset the fouls.

Lets say the QB never throws a pass but instead runs the ball in for a score. Where is the spot of the foul? Who is responsible for keeping track of the spot of the foul? Are you going to ignore this foul? Do you think you could sell "I didn't see it coach" to the team that just got scored on?

I wouldn't make a habit of ignoring this one, and if either coach see's it AND you see it, (and you can bet your paycheck that somebody within the team box saw it) you had better flag it, that is if you want to maintain any credibility. You might get away with it once, but to make a habit of ignoring this penalty might be foolhardy and a bit askew.

Now that I have stood on my soapbox and said all of the above lets talk about the reality of advantage/disadvantage football. If I were the LJ and nothing happended other than a little puff of chalk by a wide reciever, an incomplete pass by the QB, and no coaches screaming about a player going OOB, I might decide to pass on this one.

[Forksref]

This is NOT a foul. (9-6-2) "During the down,no player shall INTENTIONALLY go out of bounds and return." (my emphasis)

Stepping on a line is not intentional.

I think this was one of the test questions this year.

[BktBallRef]

You need to read the rule before it.

9-6-1
Prior to a change of possession, or when there is no change of possession, no player of A or K shall go out of bounds and return during the down unless blocked out of bounds by an opponent.