muffed backwards pass into the end zone

[Kirby]

Originally posted by schwinn
From the 2004 casebook.

K1's punt is blocked on K's 5 yd line and the ball is slowly rolling near the goal line. R1 attempts to recover and just barely touches the ball. The ball then rolls into the EZ where K2 falls on it. Ruling: the covering official will have to judge whether or not a new force resulted from R1's touch. The covering official must decide whether the original force wsa such that the ball could have gone into the EZ regardless of the muff.

2-13-1 ... a new force MAY result...

Thank you for the case reference. I always thought if a muff, bat, or kick of a grounded ball occurred, that was considered the force that put the ball in the end zone. I never knew they wanted us to use our judgement in this type of scenario....but now that I know that, I like it!

Thanks for your help with this one, Schwinn.