Reddings guide illegal participation

[Jim D.]

Originally Posted by Mike L

Well then, what do you do if said OOB receiver leaps near the sideline and swats the ball away from an inbounds B who is about to intercept the ball? You still have an A who has gone OOB, he still has merely leaped and not returned, so must still be OOB per your "ruling" and therefore all you have is an incomplete even if it prevents a B from catching the ball. Or does the reasoning change according to how the play works out and by what rule do you justify a changing ruling depending on the outcome of the play?

I don't think he'd he changing a rule -

A is running down the sideline and steps out of bounds. The ball comes his way and, seeing B may intercept, A swats the ball away. He is out of bounds when he does this and may or may not realize it. He doesn't jump and he doesn't return in-bounds. All you have is an incomplete pass. There is no IP or anything else - the ball touched an out-of-bounds player and it's dead. If he jumped in the air as he did this, there would be no difference. It's just an incomplete pass.