Bean Bag

[refbuz]

Under NFHS and NCAA there is no reason to bag an interception because it is not an enforcement spot. I am pretty sure that it can be an enforcement spot under their rules.

I think that it is a crazy scenario for it to be one but it is one none the less.

[Ed Hickland]

Believe the bean bag on an interception in the NFL is simply for statistical purposes. Also, you will see the drive start marker in NFL.

[Bullycon]

No idea on the NFL reason, but it does remind me of a situation last week in a youth game.

B66 makes an interception. As he begins returing it, I see a beanbag come flying out to the spot of the interception, thrown by the referee. I was a little confused, but a few seconds later, I realized why he did it, and why I should have had a bean bag.

In our youth league, players must be below a certain weight to be legal ball carriers. This is represented by a helmet sticker. If he did not have a sticker, we would have come back to the spot where he gained possession. Most of the time, it's obvious the kid is a legal runner, but this was a pretty good sized boy.

Fortunately, he was legal.

[Texas Aggie]

Under most NCAA mechanics, we do bean bag an interception inside the 5 yard line for the momentum rule. Could this have been what happened in the NFL game referenced?

[refbuz]

I found this in the NFL Rulebook under Safety

11-5-1 Exception (c)

If a player of the team which intercepts, catches, or recovers the ball commits a foul in the field of play, and the ball becomes dead in the end zone, the basic spot is the spot of the change of possession.

That being said, a lot of messed up things would have to happen for a ball to be picked-off at the 50 to become dead in the intercepting team's end zone and have a foul on the same play

[bossman72]

I'm fairly certain I saw this in the PIT/SD game last year. If there are offsetting fouls after the interception, the ball is brought back to the spot of the interception. I'm not positive though.

[Reffing Rev.]

I get annoyed at unnecessary bean bags...but not as annoyed as I get at necessary but absent bean bags.

I worked with a top ranked crew this year for one game, they've done state championships 2 of the last 5 years. I was HL, interception in the flat 5 yards in front of me and the BJ threw a bean bag 40 yards to spot the interception, I asked him why, and he said, "Because thats what they (pointing towards the bleachers) expect to see."

I still don't bag interceptions, or fumbles behind the LOS. I only bag spots we might need, which include end of kick and backward passes beyond the LOS. (it might confuse fans when I throw a bean bag on a hook-and-ladder play, but if we need an end of run spot for that play, we've got it.)

[idiogafting]

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