Brain teaser

[Eastshire]

Originally Posted by ajmc

For more than 100 years there didn't seem to be much confusion about the separation of Inbounds and OOB, until this "unusual" interpretation briefly surfaced suggesting that a player clearly OOB could eliminate his inability to legally participate by simply jumping up into the air, while OOB.

But no one is saying this. In fact, quite the opposite, the point is that by jumping into the air the receiver is illegally participating in the play (or illegally touching the pass depending on the code).

What he is not doing is touching a pass while OOB. This is made clear by the case play where a receiver who has been forced OOB jumps in the air, catches the pass and lands on the field has made a valid catch.

A player in the air over OOB may be illegally participating, but he is not OOB. Again, flag the foul and let play continue.