6-5-6-Exp
 

NF rules: my crew has been discussing 6-5-6-Exp ad nauseum. In the Iowa v. NIU game at Soldier Field Iowa had a player laying in the end zone on a scrimmage kick who reached across the goal line and batted the ball to keep it out of the end zone. The NCAA officials reviewed the play and left the ball at the 2 where it finally became dead after the batting. I asked our back judge...how would you rule in our high school game if no R player is around and 6-5-6-Exp is therefore in effect can K be standing in the end zone...reach through the plane(because we know in NF it's dead immediate when ball breaks the plane) and bat the ball towards his goal line. An internet thread on the Hawkeye page spoke about this and claimed all 3 codes differ. I'm just interested in the NF rule and book support for it please.

For NFHS it's all about the ball. K may legally bat a kick back toward their own EZ to prevent the ball from crossing the goal line. Nothing restrict where K may stand when batting the ball, so yes, he may be in the EZ.

Thanks Maven....that is our feeling too. I'm sure the sidelines will freak if it ever happens but I can't find ZIP in the case or rule book saying K CAN'T
be in the end zone when he bats it as long as the touching of the ball is
before the goal line plane. One of those deals I believe where if the rule book doesn't mention it, then it's legal.

Exactly. Those that will freak probably think that NFL rules apply across all codes. Or as one head coach started to argue with me: "Well in the NFL..."

Your signature line is amazingly relevant to this comment! :)
And as far as I can tell, the only restriction is that the player doing the batting must be inbounds. I say let them lose it.
But I also think that NFHS should allow their rulesbooks to be made available to the general public like NCAA and NFL does. They make their decisions, and they understand that by doing so they obscure the rules of the game from their fans. Like the guy said in Airplane, "They bought their tickets, they knew what they were getting into!"

While it would be nice if NFHS made their rules public and free, it wouldn't change much with the average fan. Various leagues and levels have had their rule and case books available for years and I wouldn't say those fans are any more knowledgeable rule wise than before. Reality is the average person isn't going to read a rulebook if they have a question about a rule. If a had a nickel for everytime I heard an announcer screw up a NCAA v. NBA/NFL...well...I'd have a whole bunch of nickels. ;)

As a sidenote, the NFL just NOW made their rule and case book available...before they went the NFHS route and could only buy the rulebook (at least readily...there were PDF copies out there that weren't officially released).

I seem to recall seeing NFL Rulebooks at a Barnes & Noble or other such bookstore several years ago. It was nearly a year out of date and was tucked in with other football books.

As far as the Fed goes, I guess anyone could have ordered books from the NFHS store. Its been online for quite sometime and before that I remember them having order forms. Its not that they weren't available so much as accessible. They've even got an app now for your Android and I guess iPhones too- $5.99. My guess is martketing isn't their strong point or a major emphasis for their staff.