too close to the line?

[mtridge]

i had someone tell me the other day that you can only have 1 back in the backfield within 1 yard of the line. Couldn't find it in the rulebook. I know there is the rule about only 1 player can be in position to take a snap basically you can't try to have 2 qb's but couldn't find anything on how far back the backs had to be.

[BktBallRef]

NFHS 2-32-3

A back is any A player who has no part of his body breaking the plane of an imaginary line drawn parallel to the line of scrimmage through the waist of the nearest teammate who is legally on the line, except for the player under the snapper, who is also considered a back.

[afsst]

Everyone not on the line must be in the backfield. To be in the backfield a player must be positioned so that no part of his body penetrates the plane that passes through the waist of the nearest lineman other than the snapper. One player can be in this zone with his hands in position to receive the ball if it is snapped between the snapper's legs (but he doesn't have to receive the snap).

[Robert Goodman]

Originally Posted by mtridge

i had someone tell me the other day that you can only have 1 back in the backfield within 1 yard of the line. Couldn't find it in the rulebook.

Old, old rule no longer in the book. The new rule is much easier to administer because you don't need a yardstick.