illegal forward pass (defense)

[bluezebra]

Originally Posted by merlin

In the Tampa/Atlanta game there was a illegal forward pass by a defensive player. It was not complete and there was a scramble for the ball. They ruled it a fumble.

My question is.....
Is a illegal forward pass by the defense a incomplete forward pass? and should it be ruled incomplete and a dead ball?

How can the DEFENSE throw any kind of pass? As soon as 'Team B' gains posession, they are the OFFENSE.

Bob

[merlin]

Originally Posted by bluezebra

How can the DEFENSE throw any kind of pass? As soon as 'Team B' gains posession, they are the OFFENSE.

Bob

good point.
I thought it would be treated as a incomplete pass, but I was just checkng.

[OverAndBack]

I heard this on the radio and it sounded like Triplette and his crew made a mess of it.

In NFHS, a pass after team possession has changed during the down is an illegal forward pass. 7-5-5 says "A forward pass, legal or illegal, is incomplete and the ball becomes dead when the pass touches the ground or goes out of bounds.

And my NFL rulebook says: 8-1-5 "Any forward pass (legal or illegal) becomes incomplete and the ball is dead immediately if the pass strikes the ground or goes out of bounds."

The whole "who becomes offense after a turnover" and whatnot is a semantic discussion that doesn't really matter, though you could tell Triplette was a bit confused about how to word his explanation.

[merlin]

Yeah, I still have not figured out what Triplette did.
At first they screwed up which team the fouls were on and then when they got that figured out he said something about the team that recovered the ball at the end. That is where he lost me because I thought the illegal forward pass should have been incomplete.

[wwcfoa43]

Canadian Ruling

Perhaps the officials were using Canadian rules. In Canada, only forward passes intended to be thrown from behind the line of scrimmage are dead when they land incomplete. Anything else is a live ball though the pass would still be an offside pass subject to penalty.

[merlin]

OK, I saw this play twice yesterday and I have yet to see it blown dead as a incomplete forward pass.

I watched so many college games yesterday and I can't remember which games I saw it in, but I did see it twice.
I think one was the punt at the end of the Ok.St and Missouri game. Missouri was lateraling the ball trying to keep it alive and then one was forward and bounced to the next player. They dropped a flag for a illegal forward pass but they let the action go on and did not rule it a incomplete pass.

Has anybody seen this blown dead and called correctly?
I don't think I have.

[mbyron]

The play took place during a kick. Therefore, it cannot be an illegal forward pass, and would not be blown dead when incomplete (for NFHS, under 4-2-2c). Since a forward lateral is not on the list of things that makes the ball dead during a kickoff, the ball is live.