Another IP question

[Jim D.]

Originally Posted by ajmc

Hold on Jim, you've got apples and oranges going on here. Your first example was questioning the legality of a player who, "Knowing he went out of bounds, he stays out of bounds. B99 is in pursuit of A32 and as he passes A50, A50 reaches into the field (staying out of bounds) and pulls B99 down to the ground at the A-30 yard line. A32 runs for an apparent touchdown", which is near the opposite end of the spectrum to, "a player steps out in diving for a fumble, but manages to touch a ball that's still inbounds or perhaps reaches back to bat a pass that's still inbounds".

There is (almost) always a problem when you try and apply a, "one size fits all" approach to hypothetical situations at opposite ends of the spectrum. I believe that is partially the reason NFHS rules rely, as often as they do, on the judgment (common sense and logic) of field officials to deal with a wide range of "unique" situations.

In the case where A50 pulls down B99, it's illegal because it's a hold or illegal use of the hands. A50 can't do that whether he's inbounds or out of bounds. I agree it's illegal because it's an illegal act. I don't believe it's illegal participation though.

The question remains, if an offensive player goes out of bounds (not blocked out), how much is allowed to do?

We know he retains his status as a player (rule 2-32).

We know he retains his status as an eligible receiver (7-5-6-d)

We know he cannot return inbounds during the down (9-6-1).

However the question is on how much can he influence, hinder or touch the play inbounds assuming he doesn't come back in bounds? I don't find any additional restrictions on his ability to legally do any of those things. In other words, if he could legally touch a pass before he went out of bounds, he retains the ability to legally touch an inbounds pass while he is out of bounds. I don't think I'm stretching the rules at all.