On this week’s episode of “Odd moments in NFL officiating with the Green Bay Packers” …
Randall Cobb took advantage of a little-known rule to get the Packers terrific field position at the start of the third quarter Sunday. Tennessee’s Rob Bironas kicked off to Cobb, who waited for the ball near his own end zone.
The kickoff landed shy of the Green Bay goal line and rolled nearly to a stop at about the 4. Rather than pick up the ball and return it, Cobb put one foot on the sideline and fielded it — meaning that the kickoff, technically, had landed out of bounds, which led to a penalty against the Titans and gave Green Bay possession on its own 40.
The NFL’s rule regarding that play is the same as on a fumble: If any part of a player’s body is out of bounds when he makes contact with the football, the ball is considered out of bounds as well.
To his credit, CBS color commentator Dan Dierdorf was all over the bizarre ruling and immediately began praising Cobb for his quick thinking.
Here’s the end of that play, si.com
Randall Cobb took advantage of a little-known rule to get the Packers terrific field position at the start of the third quarter Sunday. Tennessee’s Rob Bironas kicked off to Cobb, who waited for the ball near his own end zone.
The kickoff landed shy of the Green Bay goal line and rolled nearly to a stop at about the 4. Rather than pick up the ball and return it, Cobb put one foot on the sideline and fielded it — meaning that the kickoff, technically, had landed out of bounds, which led to a penalty against the Titans and gave Green Bay possession on its own 40.
The NFL’s rule regarding that play is the same as on a fumble: If any part of a player’s body is out of bounds when he makes contact with the football, the ball is considered out of bounds as well.
To his credit, CBS color commentator Dan Dierdorf was all over the bizarre ruling and immediately began praising Cobb for his quick thinking.
Here’s the end of that play, si.com
