Football talk
Link to my roommate bitching about people who think the ground should be allowed to cause a fumble. I agree with him 100%. If a player IS NOT DOWN, and fumbles the damn ball because he uses it to brace his fall, that's a fumble. And it is normally called correctly. Otherwise, the point is that the play is dead once the knee touches the ground (in college) or that and the player is touched by an opponent (NFL). Ball is dead AT THAT POINT, not when his whole body hits the ground. I don't see why this rule is so hard to comprehend for so many people.
posted by Publius @ 10:46 PM
2 Comments:
I think your roommate is missing the point slightly on the "Ground can't cause a fumble rule". The reason it's a rule and named rightly so, though missed in your roommates discussion is that the ball is considered an extension of the player. If that player is hit and flips in the air, is tumbling to the earth and THE BALL while he's still in possession of it and(not him) is the first thing to strike the ground and it then comes out from this contact, the player is down, no fumble, thus the GROUND can’t cause a fumble rule.
The examples he refers to all revolve around the PLAYER hitting the ground first and then a fumble occurring.
(i.e. "Once a player hits the ground, the whistle is supposed to blow because the play is over. In fact, if not for the human element associated with referees, the whistle is supposed to blow at the very instant the player touches the ground. And that, my friends and you ignorant people paid to talk and write about sports, is why a ground can’t cause a fumble."
His argument isn’t actually a ground can’t cause a fumble argument, its a "down by contact and therfore no fumble arguement. he’s making the same mistake commentators do when discussing this rule, his example doesn’t describe “The Ground” causing the fumble, just a fumble occurring after a player is down by hitting the ground.
Makes sense. Meanwhile, I occasionally hear announcers and fans misinterpret it and try to claim it is in effect when a player is not touched (in the NFL), and goes down, losing the ball when it hits the ground. That one should be pretty cut and dry too.
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