NFL - Play over when Helmet Removed

[hbk314]

Originally Posted by OKREF

Common sense says it's black and white. The play ends as soon as the helmet comes. It's all about player safety. I'm not advocating instant replay in the high school game at all.

All scores are reviewed in pro and college anyway. Ruling on the spot of the ball when a helmet comes off is no different then overturning a TD when a player was down prior to crossing the goal line.

Ending the play when he's in mid-air versus when he hits the ground has zero impact on player safety and nothing to do with the intent of the rule. Common sense = TD on that particular play.

The rule was put in to you don't have Jason Witten running another 15 yards down the field with no helmet with people trying to tackle him, not to screw a team out of a TD when a guy's going to the ground and his helmet comes off a split second before the ball breaks the plane.

[Adam]

Put your helmet on more tightly, and this doesn't happen.

[hbk314]

Originally Posted by Adam

Put your helmet on more tightly, and this doesn't happen.

It was a pretty brutal hit. I'm not sure how much you can fault Bell.

[JasonTX]

Originally Posted by hbk314

Ending the play when he's in mid-air versus when he hits the ground has zero impact on player safety and nothing to do with the intent of the rule. Common sense = TD on that particular play.

The rule was put in to you don't have Jason Witten running another 15 yards down the field with no helmet with people trying to tackle him, not to screw a team out of a TD when a guy's going to the ground and his helmet comes off a split second before the ball breaks the plane.

The problem is you would be creating a grey area. The black and white rules are much better. Imagine a helmetless runner in midair and we have an opportunity to hammer down on our whistles to stop a defender who is coming in for the kill shot. By your suggestion, you are wanting this play to remain live and allow the defender to hammer down on this airborne helmetless runner?