Expanded neutral zone

[bisonlj]

Originally Posted by OverAndBack

It was obviously a pass, but I can see your point in that what obviously begins as a pass doesn't necessarily end up as a pass.

So should you hold the flag in that case until it actually turns into a pass AND it's not tipped or thrown behind the neutral zone? As opposed to throwing it and picking it up later?

I wait until the pass is thrown. As the wing I might not know if it was tipped or not or if the pass went beyond the neutral zone but if either of those happened, then you pick up the flag. More often than not teams intentionally cover that receiver and run out of the formation so it rarely turns into a foul.