I am a Basketball ref and a fan of football. I have always had this question in my mind and wondered how it would be called at the different levels: high school, college and pro. Here is the play.

Team A is out of timeouts and the clock is winding down toward the end of the game. Team A has the ball and throws a long pass down the middle to A1 who catches it and runs to about the 20 yard line. A1 sees he has no chance to get out of bounds and throws the ball backwards such that it goes oob around the 23 yard line. It is like he is purposely lateraling the ball to no one such that the ball goes oob. What is the ruling? Legal? Will this play stop the clock? What if A1 is in the process of being tackled (momentum still going forward) and chucks the ball oob?

i'd apply rule 3-6-3:

When a team attempts to conserve or consume time illegally, the referee shall order the clock started or stopped.

REPLY: The answer to your question is, "It depends..." In Federation rules (most high schools) he's performed a perfectly legal act and bought himself some time. The official <u>cannot</u> apply NF 3-6-3 in such a case. The only discretion that the R has for starting the clock on the ready in such a case would be if the act was <b>illegal.</b> It wasn't, so the R must keep the clock stopped until the snap. In NCAA rules, throwing the ball backwards out of bounds is an illegal pass. The penalty is 5 yds from the spot of the pass and loss of down, unless A ends up with the ball beyond the line to gain after enforcement. In such a case, the loss of down is ignored. However, NCAA 3-4-3 would allow the R to start the clock on the ready because of the illegal pass. Sorry, I don't know how this would be handled in the NFL.

I believe the NFL rule is very similar to the NCAA rule.


I don't have my NFL rulebook with me, but I believe they wouldn't stop the clock if a fumble or backwards pass goes out of bounds. I will check and see how it is handled and post with a definite answer.

What did they do that was illegal? Clock starts on the snap in my game(NFHS).

NFL ruling:

No foul. Clock stops but starts when ball is placed. True only during last 2 minutes of either half.

In the days before the QB was allowed to spike the ball, this was the only acceptable way to stop the clock without using a TO.

guess i was wrong again.....but i love the case plays - i love diving into the books and finding rules - and finding how to correctly apply those rules.

our association has stopped our meetings with just half the season over - we have no more opportunity to discuss these plays.....

Canadian Ruling
 

Downs continue fromt eh 23. Clock on thr snap.

Be happy, our association's last meeting is the week before the 1st regular season game. (during week of 2nd scrimmage). So the only way discussion like this happens is from a board like this (we do have one on our assciation web site but it is not heavily used).

Sounds like a cop-out to me ;)

Seriously, what's the best/cheapest way to get a copy of the NFL book? Not the digest either.

Thanks,
Jonathan

NFHS 7-5-2
 

This rule addresses forward passes being thrown into an area where ther is no receiver.

Rule 7-4 talks about backward passes.

I got the NFL Rulebook (Game Action Edition) from Barnes and Noble. You could probably order it online.

Talk about a rule book full of exceptions and penalty enforcement that is often confusing at best.

I have the book "Make the Right Call" which is copyrighted by the NFL. It's got the rules plus hundreds of situations to illustrate the rules. At 200 pages, it's a great buy. I got in at Barnes and Noble for about $12.

Try http://www.nflrulebook.com