This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.
The original was posted on /r/cfb by /u/life_is_okay on 2023-11-15 15:25:20.
Previously, I had always thought the entire ball had to be down within the end zone. Referencing the official rulebook, this appears to be incorrect.
Section 5. Safety
How Scored—ARTICLE 1
Approved Ruling 8-5-1
I. A10, after receiving the snap in his own end zone, is downed with the ball resting on his goal line, its forward point being in the field of play. RULING: Safety. A part of the dead ball is on the ball carrier’s goal line.
So if any part of the ball is on the goal line (and to clarify it’s the goal line, not the end zone), it’s a safety.
But what if the ball is completely but just barely outside the goal line and vertical while it’s called dead? No part of the ball is on the goal line. Is it still a safety because once you place the ball horizontally it’s then touching the goal line?
Is this the only rule that concerns itself with the rear-most point of the ball? I know an illegal forward pass concerns itself with the rear-most point of the player:
ARTICLE 2
A forward pass is illegal if:
a. It is thrown by a Team A player whose entire body is beyond the neutral zone when the ball is released.
I apologize in advance for this post not being about Michigan stealing signs.
Edit:
My updated understanding is that regardless of orientation, the ball is downed at the furthest point of the ball. But since we’re interested in the rear most point being in the part of the end zone, it’s orientation becomes important. If the ball was downed while it was oriented towards the sidelines or upwards, you could have the furthest most point be 7" outside your own end zone and have it not be a safety. The ball is set 7" outside the end zone, even though now at this point the rear end of the ball is crossing the end zone. If the ball is oriented towards the end zones while it’s downed, it would be in the end zone and becomes a safety. It seems odd that a ball can only be downed at a certain distance depending on it’s orientation. This is not the case at the other end of the field, as since we’re only interested in the the forward most point, the ball can be downed at any distance outside the end zone regardless of orientation.