kickoff

[Bob M.]

Originally posted by jumpmaster
oops!
I should have cited '8-5-2a EXCEPTION' - when B catches a kick between 5 yard line and his goal line, and his original momentum carries him into the endzone, the ball is dead in his teams' possession at the spot where the kick was caught.

FWIW - 8.5.3 sit B states that the ball becomes dead when the kick breaks the plane of R's goal line.

REPLY: I still contend that you're misreading 8-5-2a EXCEPTION. It says "When a defensive player intercepts a forward pass, fumble, backward pass by an opponent or catches a scrimmage kick or free kick between his 5-yard line and the goal line and his original momentum carries him into the end zone where the ball is declared dead in his team's possession or it goes out of bounds in the end zone, the ball belongs to Team B at the spot where the pass or fumble was intercepted or the kick was caught."

The words "where the ball becomes dead" in the rule has the same meaning as saying "if the ball becomes dead." It's not declaring that the ball automatically becomes dead in such a situation. In such situations, you need to let the down play itself out until the ball becomes dead by rule. Then if the ball has become dead in B's endzone, the momentum exception kicks in and the ball is awarded to B at his 4 yard line. Consider these plays:

A’s pass is intercepted by B20 at B’s 3. His momentum carries him into his endzone where:
(a) he falls to the ground. RULING ME applies. B’s ball 1-10 from B’s 3
(b) he is tackled in the endzone by A45. RULING ME applies. B’s ball 1-10 from B’s 3
(c) he fumbles the ball and it rolls across the endline. RULING ME applies. B’s ball 1-10 from B’s 3
(d) he hands the ball to his teammate, B12 who runs out of bounds in the endzone. RULING ME applies. B’s ball 1-10 from B’s 3
(e) he sees he’s about to get tackled so he throws the ball backwards across the endline. RULING ME applies. B’s ball 1-10 from B’s 3.
(f) He attempts to run the ball out and gets tackled at his 1. RULING ME does not apply. B’s ball 1-10 from B’s 1.
(g) He brings the ball back into the field of play and then circles back into the end zone where he is tackled. RULING ME does not apply. Safety. Award A two points.

And remember that the basic spot for any fouls that occur after the interception is the end of the run which, according to NF 10-3-3c is B’s 3 (the spot of the interception). And don’t forget to apply the all-but-one principle in such cases.