Should be a no call.
National Federation rules: James is correct. There is no interception until the defensive player lands inbounds with at least one foot with the ball clearly in his possession. Therefore, while he is airborne, he can bat, pass, or hand the ball to his teammate, in any direction I might add... The reason is because team possession has not yet changed because the interception is not completed until he contacts the ground. The rule for illegal forward pass/handing only applies after team possession has changed.
The key concept to remember is the definition of a catch. For a catch to be complete, the receiver or interceptor has to land inbounds in possesion of the ball.
In your example, credit the teammate of the 2nd defender with the interception and he can advance the ball after that.
Just for sake of discussion lets say the 1st defender landed in the endzone and was tackled there. The momentum exception would not apply because the interception was completed when he landed in the end zone. Should be the defense's ball 1st and 10 at the 20 yard line.
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Mike Simonds
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Mon Mar 31, 2003, 01:29pm
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