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What is the rule for a player coming off the bench to make a tackle?

Posted on 1/26/14 at 4:01 pm
Posted by beaver
The 755 Club
Member since Sep 2009
46861 posts
Posted on 1/26/14 at 4:01 pm
Watching last year's Super Bowl mic'd edition on NFLN right now. On the last play, Ravens have a free kick following a safety. Flacco goes up to a lineman on the sideline and says "if he breaks it and it looks like he's gonna score, go tackle him. I'm not sure what the rule is but go tackle him"

So say the Niners did break that return and a Raven jumps off the sideline and tackles the guy who has a wide open track to the endzone as time expires. What happens? I'm sure unsportsmanlike and one untimed down?
This post was edited on 1/26/14 at 4:02 pm
Posted by wildtigercat93
Member since Jul 2011
112206 posts
Posted on 1/26/14 at 4:04 pm to
Thats a touchdown i believe
Posted by SevenLinesofPine
Mississippi
Member since Feb 2013
746 posts
Posted on 1/26/14 at 4:05 pm to
It's a touchdown pretty obvious and logical and every time this has come up it's been said pretty clearly
Posted by bamafan425
Jackson's Hole
Member since Jan 2009
25607 posts
Posted on 1/26/14 at 4:06 pm to
LINK

Rule 5. Section 1. Article 4: If a substitute enters the field of play or the end zone while the ball is in play, it is an illegal substitution. If an illegal substitute interferes with the play, it may be a palpably unfair act (see 12-3-3).

Rule 12. Section 4. Article 3: Palpably Unfair Act. A player or substitute shall not interfere with play by any act which is palpably unfair.

Penalty: For a palpably unfair act: Offender may be disqualified. The Referee, after consulting his crew, enforces any such distance penalty as they consider equitable and irrespective of any other specified code penalty. The Referee may award a score.

Posted by TH03
Mogadishu
Member since Dec 2008
171035 posts
Posted on 1/26/14 at 4:06 pm to
I wanna say if he's in the clear and only tackled because someone came off the bench, it's a TD
Posted by Lee to Toliver
Member since Oct 2011
5840 posts
Posted on 1/26/14 at 4:06 pm to
I think it's an automatic score. But I might have just made that up. I think they gave the guy in the cotton bowl a td back in the day when a bench player tackled him on a kick return fwiw
Posted by TH03
Mogadishu
Member since Dec 2008
171035 posts
Posted on 1/26/14 at 4:06 pm to
ah there is it
Posted by GeauxColonels
Tottenham Fan | LSU Fan
Member since Oct 2009
25604 posts
Posted on 1/26/14 at 4:08 pm to
Yep. Reading those rules it appears that it's up to the ref's discretion.....which seems like a TD would be the likely outcome.
Posted by Akit1
Baton Rouge, LA
Member since Jul 2006
7598 posts
Posted on 1/26/14 at 4:09 pm to
In the 1954 Cotton Bowl a Rice player was going to score when Alabama's Tommy Lewis ran from the sideline and tackled him. They awarded Rice the TD despite the guy being tackled at the 1.
Posted by bamafan425
Jackson's Hole
Member since Jan 2009
25607 posts
Posted on 1/26/14 at 4:09 pm to
LINK

Tommy Lewis (Alabama) tackles a Rice player off the sideline. Rice was awarded a TD.

The coach impression at the end was hilarious.
Posted by bamafan425
Jackson's Hole
Member since Jan 2009
25607 posts
Posted on 1/26/14 at 4:10 pm to
He was tackled around the 40.
Posted by TH03
Mogadishu
Member since Dec 2008
171035 posts
Posted on 1/26/14 at 4:11 pm to
too much bama in him
Posted by bamafan425
Jackson's Hole
Member since Jan 2009
25607 posts
Posted on 1/26/14 at 4:15 pm to
Yep. I bet half the SECRant thinks Harvey actually coined that phrase.
Posted by Akit1
Baton Rouge, LA
Member since Jul 2006
7598 posts
Posted on 1/26/14 at 4:15 pm to
Around the 40? I've been scooped. Always thought it was the 1. Well played
Posted by bamafan425
Jackson's Hole
Member since Jan 2009
25607 posts
Posted on 1/26/14 at 4:22 pm to
Probably just added in years ago by people telling the story to make it more dramatic. There is a link to the video a few posts up.
Posted by TH03
Mogadishu
Member since Dec 2008
171035 posts
Posted on 1/26/14 at 4:24 pm to
probably
Posted by pvilleguru
Member since Jun 2009
60453 posts
Posted on 1/26/14 at 4:25 pm to
Dude was going to get tackled around the 25. One of the Bama players had a great angle on him.
Posted by KBeezy
Baton Rouge
Member since Dec 2004
13529 posts
Posted on 1/26/14 at 4:47 pm to
quote:

Dude was going to get tackled around the 25. One of the Bama players had a great angle on him.




Bama fan claiming a mythical tackle
Posted by AllBamaDoesIsWin
Member since Dec 2011
26725 posts
Posted on 1/26/14 at 4:53 pm to
Makes me wish we would have stopped Davis before it became clear he was going to score.
Posted by ballscaster
Member since Jun 2013
26861 posts
Posted on 1/26/14 at 5:01 pm to
quote:

Rule 12. Section 4. Article 3: Palpably Unfair Act. A player or substitute shall not interfere with play by any act which is palpably unfair.

Penalty: For a palpably unfair act: Offender may be disqualified. The Referee, after consulting his crew, enforces any such distance penalty as they consider equitable and irrespective of any other specified code penalty. The Referee may award a score.
Can the above be applied to this play, if only in theory?
quote:

4-7-BAL 8 (:12) (Punt formation) S.Koch right end ran ob in End Zone for -8 yards, SAFETY (C.Culliver).

BALTIMORE 34, SAN FRANCISCO 31
During this play, during which Baltimore was to take a safety, every Baltimore player besides the punter committed a blatant holding penalty to extend the time of the play. Since the penalty for holding in this case would be either half the distance to the goal and a replay of 4th down (San Francisco would have declined, of course) or a safety, in the case that one of the offenses was committed in the end zone. It was one of the rarest of cases where a team actually committed 10 penalties on the same play...and they benefitted from it.

So, two-part question:
a) Can this be interpreted as "palpably unfair" as stated by the rule above?
b) If yes (or if no, but you care to hypothesize), what could the referee possibly do to remedy the situation within the parameters of the rules?

There are three things the referee is permitted to do, according to this rule:
1) Disqualify offending players. Virtually irrelevant in this case since the game was almost over and the offenders were on Baltimore's punt team and were in all likelihood finished playing in this game anyway.
2) Award a score. Since San Francisco actually did score two points on the play, not much that can be done here. The only other thing possible for San Francisco to have scored on that play was a touchdown in the event that the punter fumbled in the end zone and SF recovered it. Awarding a score doesn't really make sense here and would seem incredibly wrong.
3) Enforce any such distance penalty as he considers equitable and irrespective of any other specified code penalty. This basically means the referee can place the ball anywhere on the field that he finds to be equitable to the perceived palpable unfairness.

So let's go with #3 and just pretend. If you're the referee, what can you possibly do if you see this play as palpably unfair and can only enforce this rule by distance? Baltimore has been called for holding, and the penalty has been declined, and the result of the play is a safety. As it stands, Baltimore has a free kick at the 20. All I see that is even conceivable here is to place the free kick back further than the 20.
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