Spotting the ball

[Robert Goodman]

When I visited Fed HQ in Kansas City in 1980, I sat down with Brice Durbin (whom I kept calling "Bruce" because I'd never heard the name Brice before), and asked him what happens if on 3rd down, team A advances the ball with its points toward the sideline so it's just outside their end zone, and then the ball is spotted with its tail end overlapping the goal line, and then on 4th down they throw an incomplete pass? He said that's why they tell officials never to spot the ball with its tail end over the goal line.