Thread: The absolute worst rule in the NFL?

NodakPaul wrote:

Mark_The_Viking wrote:

Has to be accidentally hitting the kicker. When a player is in the air attemtping to block a punt of field goal he can't simply change direction

Disagree. A kicker can be seriously hurt, accidental or not. When you are trying to block a kick, if you end up hitting the kicker than you are jumping to the wrong spot anyway. You should be trying to jump laterally in front of the kicker for the highest chance of success.

Surely you are coming from in front of the kicker and therefore can only move laterally to a point, you will alway be moving forward, I have seen penalties given for the merest touches on a kicker by a defender flying through the air.

Mr Anderson wrote:

There's one so stupid they never even enforce it.

Assisting the runner. How often do you see people pushing the pile or forcing their back ahead for extra yards or a TD?

I think it's mostly so you can't carry people. Only team I've seen it called against is the Vikes.

"Free Kicks" are rather silly.

Randy Moss wrote:

"Free Kicks" are rather silly.

Meh, there's a bunch of obscure rules in the game, but free kicks aren't really a stupid rule.

Thinks like free kicks, drop kicks, etc. are obscure, and kinda cool when you see them happening.


Also, I think another dumb rule is the goal line extends infinitely. IMO the ball needs to cross the plane inside the field of play, otherwise you could just dive 7 yards OB where nobody can touch you and still score

i_bleed_purple wrote:

Randy Moss wrote:

"Free Kicks" are rather silly.

Also, I think another dumb rule is the goal line extends infinitely. IMO the ball needs to cross the plane inside the field of play, otherwise you could just dive 7 yards OB where nobody can touch you and still score

That's not the rule.

The goal line extends infinitely upwards inside the pylons.

If you were to dive out of bounds past the goal line, the ball is spotted where it left the field of play.

It must be inside the pylon when it crosses the plane of the endzone.

Mr Anderson wrote:

i_bleed_purple wrote:

Randy Moss wrote:

"Free Kicks" are rather silly.

Also, I think another dumb rule is the goal line extends infinitely. IMO the ball needs to cross the plane inside the field of play, otherwise you could just dive 7 yards OB where nobody can touch you and still score

That's not the rule.

The goal line extends infinitely upwards inside the pylons.

If you were to dive out of bounds past the goal line, the ball is spotted where it left the field of play.

It must be inside the pylon when it crosses the plane of the endzone.

you sure, I seem to recall a few cases over the past few years where they dived over the pylon, and the announcers were all talking about the plane extending outwards infinitely.

i_bleed_purple wrote:

Mr Anderson wrote:

i_bleed_purple wrote:

Randy Moss wrote:

"Free Kicks" are rather silly.

Also, I think another dumb rule is the goal line extends infinitely. IMO the ball needs to cross the plane inside the field of play, otherwise you could just dive 7 yards OB where nobody can touch you and still score

That's not the rule.

The goal line extends infinitely upwards inside the pylons.

If you were to dive out of bounds past the goal line, the ball is spotted where it left the field of play.

It must be inside the pylon when it crosses the plane of the endzone.

you sure, I seem to recall a few cases over the past few years where they dived over the pylon, and the announcers were all talking about the plane extending outwards infinitely.

100%.

The ball must cross the goal line within the field of play.

Hitting the pylon counts as well.

It only extends upward, not outward.

EDIT:

Well that's not totally true. I just looked it up. If a player is in bounds when he crosses, and the ball is not, it's ok. The example used was Warrick Dunn diving for the endzone, missing, and landing out of bounds - but his foot hit the pylon while the ball was past the goal line as well as out of bounds. It was correctly ruled a touchdown.

So if the player is in bounds in the endzone, but the ball is out, without ever having crossed the plane while in bounds it still counts.

Looking it up now.

In the NCAA, that is not the case:

http://www.ncaa.org/library/rules/2001/2001_football_rules.pdf


URL: http://able2know.org/topic/16749-3

Rule 2, Section 11, article 1 - reads:

Each goal line is part of a vertical plane separating an end zone from the field of play when a ball is touched or in a player's possession. The plane extends beyond the sidelines. (Exception: Rule 4-2-4-e)

I'll try and find a more recent copy of hte rules, and for the NFL.

according to Wikipedia:

A team scores a touchdown by entering its opponent's end zone while carrying the ball or catching the ball while being within the end zone. If the ball is carried by an offensive player across the goal line, it is considered a score as soon as the ball crosses the imaginary vertical plane of the goal line, which theoretically extends in a great circle around the world and infinitely into space as long as the player does not set any part of his body on the ground out of bounds (i.e. outside the sidelines) before the ball penetrates the plane.

And upon further review, prior to 2007, the Endzone plane theoretically extended infinitely around the world. In 2007, it was changed so the ball had to be inside the field of play.

12 men in the huddle.. obvious reason