A-11 hits on rivals.com

[JugglingReferee]

Originally Posted by BktBallRef

What's a lateral pass?

The points of origin and termination of said pass are equidistant from any yard line when such measurements are parallel. While possible, the phenomenon is not measureable by the human eye, and therefore ruled not possible in a football game at this time. To simplify the analogue nature of the game, passes have been categorized into 1 of 2 categories: forward and backwards.

[Welpe]

Originally Posted by JugglingReferee

While possible, the phenomenon is not measureable by the human eye, and therefore ruled not possible in a football game at this time.

Same thing as tie goes to the runner in baseball. In my world, there's no such thing as a tie.

[Robert Goodman]

Originally Posted by JugglingReferee

The points of origin and termination of said pass are equidistant from any yard line when such measurements are parallel. While possible, the phenomenon is not measureable by the human eye, and therefore ruled not possible in a football game at this time. To simplify the analogue nature of the game, passes have been categorized into 1 of 2 categories: forward and backwards.

The terms "lateral" and "backward[s]", although not equivalent in ordinary language, have a long history of equivalence as applied to passes in North American football, even if not all codes currently use the terms. AFAIK Canadian football has never used "backwards" as the descriptor.

NCAA at one time used the phrase "lateral or backwards". The phrase quickly migrated to the Definitions under "pass" (where it defined synonyms), was retained by NFL, and the "lateral or" part was eventually deleted (separately) by Fed & NCAA. However, outside of the Definitions section, NFL refers only to the "lateral" version of the term.

Robert