In the fourth quarter of the Independence Bowl, Oklahoma State versus Alabama, the QB threw a backward pass to the left tackle who ran it in for a touchdown. The commentators had an official explain that anyone is eligible to receive a backward pass since it is, in essence, a running play. Is this true in the NFL as well? Can any lineman drop back and take a backward pass from the QB? –Don Soula, Plano, Texas
Under all rules of football, including the NFL, a backward pass
can be legally caught and advanced by any member of the offensive team. There are no eligibility rules for backward passes. What you saw in the Independence Bowl was legal because the left tackle was behind the spot where the pass was thrown. So, in answer to your last question, any lineman may drop back and take a backward pass from the quarterback.
I am confused about what illegal procedure is these days. I was always under the impression that once an offensive lineman was in a three-point stance they could not move. Yet, this happens all the time with these offenses that call the play at the line. You will see the lineman lift their heads and turn to talk to other lineman. Can you explain what is legal and not
anymore? –Rick, Franklin, Mass.
There are no illegal-procedure fouls under the NFL rules. Television and radio announcers mistakenly identify false starts as illegal-procedure fouls. Consequently, the viewing and listening audiences become confused. Offensive interior linemen are restricted from moving once they have gone into a three-point stance. They are allowed, however, to lift their heads and turn to talk to other linemen, providing this is not an attempt to simulate the start of a play. The foul for moving once in a
three-point stance is a false start and the play is shut down immediately.
I’m a Jaguars fan and went to the Jaguars-Chiefs game in K.C. Josh Scobee kicked an extra point in the second quarter, the ball went over the net and I caught it. I see the “K” stamped on one side, but there also is a “wk-17” on there. Does that mean Week 17 of the season? –Gary Spruce, Carthage, Mo.
Congratulations on catching the K ball after the try for point.
Most kicks never make it over the net that is set up to save the football from leaving the playing field. The K stamped on the side of the ball indicates, as I have said in previous columns, that the ball can only be used on kick plays. The marking on your ball, “wk-17,” indicates that this ball may only be used during the 17 week of the season. The K balls are branded for each week of the season, beginning with wk-1 and ending with wk-17.
Jerry, if the ball carrier is face-masked, the personal foul variety, and fumbles the ball, with the defensive team recovering, who gets the ball? I have never seen this happen, but would assume since the face masked occurred during the play, the possession would go back to the offense, right? –Nick, Chicago
You are correct. The offensive team gets the ball back and also
gets the yardage for the penalty. In your play, the 15-yard face mask foul is penalized from the spot of the foul, even though it may be behind the line of scrimmage. In all other cases, fouls are never penalized from behind the offensive line of scrimmage. This unusual situation is called, “hurts the least.” This means that the penalty is enforced from the spot that hurts the fouling team the least, instead of the most, which is the general rule in penalty enforcement. The penalty, regardless of where it leaves the ball, will result in an automatic first down for the offensive team. Once the defense fouls on this play, they give up the right to the fumble recovery.
I was at the Colts-Dolphins game last Sunday. After the first quarter, the referee, another official, the orange sleeves guy, and another television-looking-type guy were having what appeared to be an involved discussion. Why types of things could they have been talking about? –Mike Kilgore, Rushville, Ind.
I can tell you exactly what they were talking about because I was
at this game. During the first quarter of the game, television took no commercials because the first game of the CBS double-header went into overtime and as long as most of the country stayed with the overtime game, no commercials were taken. The meeting that you describe was held to discuss with television’s sideline people to make sure that the network knew how many commercials they could take in the second quarter. Under normal
circumstances, five commercials are taken in each quarter. Because nothing was taken in the first quarter, 10 commercials were required for the network to catch up. Under NFL rules, a maximum of eight commercials may be taken in any one quarter. The other commercials have to be made up in the third and fourth quarters, which they were. That is the reason for the meeting.
Within the two-minute warning, if a team has three time outs remaining and a player is injured, do you lose one of your three time outs? Or do you keep the three and a fourth time out is given for the injury? –Colleen Watts, Colorado Springs, Colo.
During the last two minutes of the second or fourth quarter, an
injury timeout becomes a charged timeout for that team, unless the injury was caused by a foul. In almost all cases, the injury is not caused by a foul and the team is charged with a timeout. If a team has used all of their timeouts and an injury occurs in this time period, they are charged with an excess timeout, which carries no penalty. A fifth timeout would carry a five-yard delay of game penalty and the clock would start with the ready for play signal by the referee.
Hi, Jerry. Happy New Year. I’m Antonio from Italy and love the column. I have a question about the spot of the ball after defensive holding during a run when there is not a change of possession. How come in Week 13 during the San Francisco-New Orleans game, on first-and-goal at San Fran 4, Deuce McAllister is down at the 3 and the ruling is first-and-goal at SF 2? It should have been at SF 1 1/2. Or in Week 13, during the Arizona-St. Louis game, it’s first-and-goal at Rams 6. Edgerrin James is down at the 4 and the ball was placed at the 3. For me the 2 is correct. I hope you can help me clear this up and I’d like to know the exact rule about it. Thank you. –Antonio, Rome, Italy
Happy New Year. I am so glad to hear from you, Antonio, all the way from Rome. I am thrilled that you enjoy the column. The penalty enforcement for a defensive holding foul is five yards from the end of the run, providing that the run goes beyond the line of scrimmage, and an automatic first down for the offended team. If the run ends behind the line of scrimmage, the penalty is five yards from the previous line of scrimmage and an automatic first down. In all of your plays, the enforcement is half the distance to the goal from the end of the run. A run that ended at the three should have been placed at the one-and-a-half yard line and the run that ended at the four should have been placed at the two-yard line. A defensive holding penalty on a pass play, whether completed or not, is always a previous line of scrimmage enforcement and an automatic first down.
If a team takes a timeout and during that timeout they decided to challenge a play and lose it, do they get charged with a second timeout? –Patrick Flynn, Hadley, Mass
Yes, whenever a team calls a timeout to decide whether a play should be challenged or not, they are automatically charged with that timeout. If the play goes to replay and they lose the challenge, they are in fact charged with a second team timeout.
If half of the football goes over an upright on a kick, is it good? Or must the entire football be inside the vertical upright
which extends to infinity to be a field goal? And can a team challenge a field goal? –Joe Sarasua, Pacifica, Calif.
During field goal and extra point tries, the entire ball must be inside of the outside vertical upright plane in order to
be ruled a successful kick. A team may not challenge
whether or not a field goal is good or bad. The replay official is also restricted from challenging this play during the last two minutes of either half.
I have a follow-up question regarding your explanation of replay procedures. Is there ever a time during replay review when the referee might consult with the official who made the call on the field? I’ve never seen it done. Is such consultation even allowed under replay rules? –David Englund, Belvidere, Ill.
Once the referee goes under the hood of the replay monitor, the
decision is his and his alone. He cannot discuss it with anyone, except the replay official up in the replay booth. The discussion with the official who made the call on the field is done prior to announcing the replay to the viewing audience and before going to the monitor.
