Rule 6-3-1 on touchbacks - always that way?

[kentref]

Has rule 6-3-1 (a kick breaking the plane of the goal line is a touchback) always been that way? In other words, has it always been a NFHS rule that a kick can not be run out of the end zone (once the ball breaks the goal line plane)?

If not, does anyone know when the rule was changed?

Anyone know the original intent of the rule?

kentref

[BktBallRef]

Don't know if it's always been that way but I'll address the intent.

Nothing good can come from a player attempting to run the ball out of the end zone. HS players are kids and they make mistakes. They get tackled at the 1 yard line, they fumble the ball, they run out of the EZ and run back in, etc. There are just too many things that can go wrong and hardly anything that can go right.

If you were a coach, would you want your kids to be able to run the ball out of the end zone?

I wouldn't.

[Middleman]

A loooong time ago, so long I can't remember when (when I played high school football), a kick could be returned from the end zone. The rule was changed, perhaps in the 70's or 80's, to read:

"If any free kick or scrimmage kick touches anything while the kicked ball is on or behind R's goal line or goal line plane, it becomes dead and is a touchback. Exception: Unless a drop kick or placekick from scrimmage, or a free kick following a fair catch or awarded fair catch touches an upright, crossbar or an R player and caroms through the goal."

In 1996, the rule was changed again to what we have now where the ball becomes dead as soon as it breaks the plane of the goal line. The rulesmakers were concerned that there was a period of time during a play when players of both teams were subject to unnecessary live-ball contact. In the comments on rule changes, "Previously, a kick ... became dead when it touched something ... after breaking the plane of R's goal line. In some cases, this would not happen until the ball touched the ground well beyond the end line!"

In other words, they wanted to eliminate the live-ball time frame when R could take cheap shots at K.

[BktBallRef]

Originally posted by Middleman
In the comments on rule changes, "Previously, a kick ... became dead when it touched something ... after breaking the plane of R's goal line. In some cases, this would not happen until the ball touched the ground well beyond the end line!"

How long are we talking here, another 2 seconds at the most?

[Edited by BktBallRef on Dec 21st, 2003 at 07:32 PM]

[Theisey]

As I recall, that change was made just after the start of the previous season because a Team-R receiver was clobbered in the EZ while waiting for the ball to come down.

He was injured on the play and as you might guess the refs were blamed for waiting to kill the play as they of course were supposed too by rule at the time.

Can't recall if there was any legal action or not. I'd guess there was considering an immediate rule change was put in effect.

I hope what I'm saying is 100% correct. If I remember, I'll pull out the files when I get home later as I should have some interpretor notes on the topic. Chime in if anyone has other details.

[bluezebra]

I started officiating FED FB in 1972. The EZ dead ball rule was in effect back then.

Bob