Easy n Dirty Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 Playing in a touch football game yesterday, here's what happened - 4th down from about the 15-yard line, receiver is being ridden pretty hard by the defender and steps out of the back of the end zone. He then steps back into the end zone and catches a TD pass. Ref had thrown his hat when the receiver stepped out the back of the end zone and called a penalty. Putting aside whether the defender forced the receiver out (I assume that's a judgment call for the ref to make), what is the penalty supposed to be here? The ref yesterday penalized us 10 yards and then gave the other team first down going the other way (essentially making it a loss-of-down situation). I thought it was only a 5-yarder, although I'm not sure of that part, but I certainly did not think this was a loss-of-down type penalty. I thought he should have walked off five yards and then retry on 4th down (or punt, if we chose to). Anyone know the right answer here? Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BYoder Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 (edited) You are correct. Check out this web page. NFL.Com/Penalties Edit to Add: I am assuming that the rules of your league are the same as the NFL Edited January 23, 2006 by BYoder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big John Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 Depends of the rules of that league. Illegal touching can be condidered loss of down if those rules say so. Outside the pros, stepping out of bounds makes you ineligable, even if pushed out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Easy n Dirty Posted January 23, 2006 Author Share Posted January 23, 2006 Depends of the rules of that league. Illegal touching can be condidered loss of down if those rules say so. Outside the pros, stepping out of bounds makes you ineligable, even if pushed out. 1283734[/snapback] I don't really understand what you're saying here. The first part I get, obviously if the touch football league has a specific rule on this (which it doesn't), then that's that. The second part, I'm not sure I understand what you're saying - are you saying that in a college game, the receiver is considered ineligible even if pushed out, whereas in the pros the ref makes a judgment call in that situation and therefore the receiver may still be eligible? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big John Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 I don't really understand what you're saying here. The first part I get, obviously if the touch football league has a specific rule on this (which it doesn't), then that's that. The second part, I'm not sure I understand what you're saying - are you saying that in a college game, the receiver is considered ineligible even if pushed out, whereas in the pros the ref makes a judgment call in that situation and therefore the receiver may still be eligible? 1283765[/snapback] In the pros, yes. In college, unless there was a recent rule change, that is still the case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grits and Shins Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 I don't really understand what you're saying here. The first part I get, obviously if the touch football league has a specific rule on this (which it doesn't), then that's that. The second part, I'm not sure I understand what you're saying - are you saying that in a college game, the receiver is considered ineligible even if pushed out, whereas in the pros the ref makes a judgment call in that situation and therefore the receiver may still be eligible? 1283765[/snapback] Rules are often different across the different levels of play (high school, college, professional) and can often be different across different leagues/cities/states. So your league may have adopted the college rules, but then has specific exceptions. This is common place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Easy n Dirty Posted January 23, 2006 Author Share Posted January 23, 2006 Rules are often different across the different levels of play (high school, college, professional) and can often be different across different leagues/cities/states. So your league may have adopted the college rules, but then has specific exceptions. This is common place. 1283771[/snapback] Understood - but the issue in question here is not whether or not the receiver was forced out - this is debatable and is a judgment call (I think), so there's no black-and-white answer to that question. My question was, once the ref decided that it was a penalty (ineligible receiver), how should it have been enforced? I do not believe that this constitutes a loss-of-down penalty in either the NFL or in the NCAA. And based on the link provided by BYoder, I am now certain that this is the case for the NFL. The league we play in does not have a specific rule in this case, and the general procedure in this league is that we defer to NFL rules if the league does not have anything specific on it, so it looks to me like the ref blew it yesterday. Not a big deal, it was not a close game, I was just curious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainHook Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 Ref cannot make judgment calls on whether or not he was "forced" out of bounds in the NFL. If a player goes out of bounds on his own, or is forced out, he is ineligible. It should have been a 5 yard penalty and a replay of fourth down. The only penalties that involve a loss of down are a forward pass thrown beyond the line of scrimmage and intentional grounding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vinatieri Is God Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 I guess the real question is....how many Jet's scouts were at the game?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgcoach Posted January 24, 2006 Share Posted January 24, 2006 When I played flag, it was 5yds. and replay the down. Like people have said, it depends on the rules your league has adopted. There are so many different leagues and rules out there it basically comes down to your particular league rule package. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainHook Posted January 24, 2006 Share Posted January 24, 2006 I guess the real question is....how many Jet's scouts were at the game?? 1284105[/snapback] Judging by the Jets roster, I'd say both of them were there. :ducks: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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