When Is a Runner Down?

[HossHumard]

Originally Posted by mbyron

Sounds like his forward progress is stopped, which means he's down. IMO, it's a bad policy to call a runner down because he might get hit. Call him down when he's down.

Really? Well, when you have a ball carrier who runs into a group of players and starts to get pushed backwards while still on his feet with no hope of breaking free you'll almost always see a whistle at NFL, CFL and amateur on both sides of the border....how is that different?

It's all about player safety in a situation like this, especially at amateur....