https://youtu.be/MQiagMNwjbA
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I am rewatching the game, if a DB intercepts the ball, and his toes touch in bounds first safely, that is a pick. I don?t care if his heel does anything different. Same as if you slide your toes across the turf on the way out. That is a dumb rule. Either you have to establish possession in bounds or not.
The rules analyst on the broadcast said that had he 13 had the presence of mind to toe tap instead of full step plant, it would have stood as an int. Like you said, the negative of that rule is that a person catching the ball has to be facing the sidelines to be able to successfully toe tap. Not physically possible to be backing out of bounds and toe tap.
Ole Miss had a TD overturned in our 31-3 Eggbowl win several years ago for this very thing.
The crux of the issue to me is that if the bottom of the foot matters in any case, then it should matter in all cases. Logically, a toe tap with the top of the foot should not ever count if what Forbes did didn't count. Dragging your toe on the ground while falling forward onto your face isn't a "natural stepping motion" in any sense whatsoever.
What about a ball carrier running down the sideline..on a given stride, his heel lands inbounds, but his toes are out? He’s ruled out of bounds.
Similarly, a receiver running perpendicular to the sideline catches the ball and his heel lands in, but his toes are over the line…incomplete pass, right?
It’s an odd rule in the scenario that happened against AZ, but it’s applied consistently throughout the game.
I wish Leach would get that hair ball out of his throat. ********
There are two completely different sets of rules regarding out of bounds for an established ball carrier and a player attempting to catch a forward pass. If any part of a ball carrier's body touches out of bounds at any time, he's out, so I don't think that's relevant here.
If a player secures a pass with a toe in bounds and no part of his body touched out of bounds prior to that moment, and the result of the play can either be a catch or an incompletion depending simply on what the next part of his body to touch out of bounds is, that's not consistency.
It's a really stupid rule and it negated an amazing football play. Basically just have to assume a foot would come down out of bounds. Well guess what? It didn't.