NFL Rules Question - touchbacks and incomplete passes
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Rupert Patrick
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NFL Rules Question - touchbacks and incomplete passes
When did the rule that a incomplete pass that went into the end zone was ruled a touchback get removed? Did this also apply to dropped passes in the end zone? I imagine this applied to passes that first touched in the end zone but did it also apply to those that bounced several times or hit the ground rolled before winding up in the end zone? What about passes that were thrown thru the end zone without actually touching the grass in the end zone? Has there ever been a rule that the pass is a touchback if the pass hits the opposing goalposts, and if so, when did it become an incomplete pass? I have read that a incomplete fourth down pass from inside the 20-yard line (the red zone) that went into the end zone were ruled a touchback until some point in the early 70's, 1974 perhaps.
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Re: NFL Rules Question - touchbacks and incomplete passes
From an old thread about Super Bowl V:
http://www.profootballresearchers.com/f ... t=mitchell
Pertinent part:
Sorry for the delayed reply, but an incomplete pass in or through the end zone on fourth down effectively resulted in a touchback. That rule was in effect from 1934 through 1974.
Prior to 1934, any incomplete pass in the end zone was a touchback, but it was revised that year to fourth down incompletions or the second such pass in the same series. Starting in 1935, the defense got the ball at the previous LOS if that spot was outside the 20. As of 1938, the second incomplete pass rule was dropped, and the touchback only applied on fourth down as long as an ineligible didn't touch the pass. Some additional modifications were made in the 1940s to account for the spot in conjunction with a foul assessment, such as offensive pass interference on a 4th down incompletion (essentially the defense gets the best possible spot).
http://www.profootballresearchers.com/f ... t=mitchell
Pertinent part:
Sorry for the delayed reply, but an incomplete pass in or through the end zone on fourth down effectively resulted in a touchback. That rule was in effect from 1934 through 1974.
Prior to 1934, any incomplete pass in the end zone was a touchback, but it was revised that year to fourth down incompletions or the second such pass in the same series. Starting in 1935, the defense got the ball at the previous LOS if that spot was outside the 20. As of 1938, the second incomplete pass rule was dropped, and the touchback only applied on fourth down as long as an ineligible didn't touch the pass. Some additional modifications were made in the 1940s to account for the spot in conjunction with a foul assessment, such as offensive pass interference on a 4th down incompletion (essentially the defense gets the best possible spot).