Backward Pass

[monsignor]

Backward pass is picked up by the defense on a bounce and handed to the official covering. No whistle. Who do you give the ball to offense or defense?

[ljudge]

The official took the ball?

[monsignor]

Yes

[ljudge]

The official should have put his hands up and quickly backed away. It's clearly B's ball in my mind. There's not quite enough information to tell what to do next. It sounds like the official is holding a live ball...tackle the dummy for taking the ball.

[waltjp]

B's ball. They're last in possession of a live ball. Penalize the Ref for Illegal Touching and make him clean and polish the rest of the crew's shoes.

[monsignor]

What more information do you need? That is all that happened and the offense was given the ball.

[KWH]

I would treat it the same as an inadvertant whistle.
Once the official took possession of the LIVE BALL the ball became dead.
Since B was last team in possession, I would give B the option of replaying the down or taking possession of the ball at the spot where the official killed the play by taking possesion of a live ball.

This decision is supported by NFHS Rule 1-6-1

Editors note: Most people would not like their children to be within earshot of my post game discussion with that official.

[Jim S]

KWH has it in one.

[Forksref]

Originally posted by waltjp
B's ball. They're last in possession of a live ball. Penalize the Ref for Illegal Touching and make him clean and polish the rest of the crew's shoes.

No BEER and continued source of humor for the rest of the season.

[mcrowder]

Sounds like you're describing a situation you SAW, not one you were involved in as an official. Is it possible that one of the officials (right or wrong) ruled this an incomplete FORWARD pass? It appears that this is how they treated it. Where was the offense given the ball? Spot of the handoff to R? Or the original spot?

Were you a spectator, coach, player, or official when this happened?

[monsignor]

A question that was asked to me by a member of my officiating group. I am an official.

[mcrowder]

OK. If this is a hypothetical, then I believe the answers you got above are correct.

But it doesn't sound like a hypothetical ... your statement. "That is all that happened and the offense was given the ball" leads me to believe this was an actual situation. If it's an actual situation, my question is really for someone who was actually there - Why did the officials give the ball to the offense? Was there something else here that we don't know (like, the official, right or wrong, felt it was a FORWARD pass, or something along those lines).

[SouthGARef]

We had this situation in GA a few years ago in the playoff quarterfinals.

On a punt, the returner of a team that was in the lead told the BJ that he was planning on fair catching. What happens next depends on the side you hear. People in officiating I've talked to said he never waved fair catch. Fans in the stands say he did, but gave an invalid fair catch signal. He threw the ball towards the BJ, the BJ just got out of the way, and the kicking team recovered and scored to take the lead and won the ball game.

[KWH]

Nevada Zone Championship (Semi-Final) 1998
A leads 35 - 26. I am working the R position.
Three seconds left on game clock. After final B timeout.
4th and 17 for A.
A quarterback takes snap and starts retreating, game clock hits zero and audible horn sounds.
QB tosses (clearly) backwards pass towards me, I jump out of the way and let the ball hit the gound, team A players start jumping up and down and hugging each other while player of team B player scoops it up and takes it to the house. I signal TD.
Final A35 - B32
The B coach was a little upset when we (by rule) denied him the opportunity to attempt the try, however, in a calmer moment, after we had showered and team B was loading their equipment on the bus, the coach of team B said the rule makes sense.

Always expect the unexpected,
but never catch a live ball backward pass thrown to you by a player!!!

My white hat yesterday told me a story similar to the one from Nevada. It was similar in that the kid heard the horn and threw the ball up, and the defense caught it and ran it back for the winning touchdown. Worse part-it was the state championship game in Kansas.