Please help settle a dispute!

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by DIAGFMCNABB

Yes J, I was referring to the Phila.-Pitt game. It was obvious that Ben was throwing the ball away but how can you say whether it would have made it to the line of scrimmage since it was tipped? I'm an Eagles fan from Philly and was watching with other Eagle fans and this play started a riot at my brother in laws house. If the defender had gotten a better piece of the ball and actually batted it down backwards, is that still grounding? Just seems silly to me since once the ball was tipped you could not determine how far the ball would have gone. His intent was to get rid of it, but if it reaches the line of scrimmage its ok. Anyway, thanks for the responses! peace

This is an NFL Rule (NCAA has a similar rule, and I do not believe tipping the ball matters either) and most have no idea what are the specifics of NFL Rules because we do not work that game. My guess is that it does not matter when you are throwing the ball away as it relates to "dumping" the ball. There are several factors to this rule and I would bet that tipping the ball is not one of them. And you are assuming that that was part of the consideration of the foul. Maybe Mike Pereira (sp?) will clear that up on Wednesday when he talks on the NFL Network.

Peace