Does the way the rule is currently written take into account the relative speed of the principals or is it strictly by the yard markers?
RiverDog wrote:Here's the operative sentence from the NFL rule book:
"The ball initially moves forward (to a point nearer the opponent’s goal line) after leaving the passer’s hand(s);
http://static.nfl.com/static/content/pu ... Fumble.pdf
That indicates to me that the reference to be used is the yard markers as that would determine if the ball came closer to the opponent's goal line.
RiverDog wrote:Here's the operative sentence from the NFL rule book:
"The ball initially moves forward (to a point nearer the opponent’s goal line) after leaving the passer’s hand(s);
http://static.nfl.com/static/content/pu ... Fumble.pdf
That indicates to me that the reference to be used is the yard markers as that would determine if the ball came closer to the opponent's goal line.
RiverDog wrote:Here's the operative sentence from the NFL rule book:
"The ball initially moves forward (to a point nearer the opponent’s goal line) after leaving the passer’s hand(s);
http://static.nfl.com/static/content/pu ... Fumble.pdf
That indicates to me that the reference to be used is the yard markers as that would determine if the ball came closer to the opponent's goal line.
RiverDog wrote:Here's the operative sentence from the NFL rule book:
"The ball initially moves forward (to a point nearer the opponent’s goal line) after leaving the passer’s hand(s);
http://static.nfl.com/static/content/pu ... Fumble.pdf
That indicates to me that the reference to be used is the yard markers as that would determine if the ball came closer to the opponent's goal line.
burrrton wrote:
"Initially" is an interesting piece of that.
idhawkman wrote:Initially it went backwards from RW. so I think it is good even in the rule book.
burrrton wrote:"Initially" is an interesting piece of that.
mykc14 wrote:I am really starting to believe this as well. From this slow motion video (the second one on the page) it really does look like it 'initially' is headed backwards. The first few revolutions of the flip seem to go backwards then it looks like (at least to me) RW's forward momentum when he released the ball causes it to move forward...
https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/neil ... l-lateral/
Its interesting that they put the word 'initially' into the rules. It seems like it would be for this very reason, because a player moving forward, who pitches the ball backwards, is going to transfer their forward momentum to the ball and cause the overall movement of the ball to go forward...
RiverDog wrote:
I'm not a physics major, but I do believe that if forward momentum is going to affect the trajectory of the ball that it would do so from the moment it left his hand and not in mid flight.
I want to re-emphasize that the camera angle is not adequate to determine to within a foot or so exactly what direction the ball was moving.
NorthHawk wrote:If you've ever played hockey you would see it in action when you pass the puck or shoot from an angle while skating fast.
The forward movement to a relatively lateral pass makes the ball (or puck) move forward by quite a bit if you're motoring. It looks like a pitch (slider?) in baseball except it's all horizontal.
So if a player is running 15 mph and laterals, the ball is still going 15 mph forward even though the pass was not forward at all.
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