In a game I watched last week a pass into the end zone bounced off the receiver’s hands and hit one of the goal post uprights, bouncing into the air in the end zone.
The ball then fell to the ground, but what would have happened if a receiver or defender had caught it and either claimed a touchdown, or had tried to advance it out of the end zone. Was the ball still in play, or are the goal posts considered part of the playing field? Was the ball then dead?
Goal posts are out of the playing field. The ball is dead once it hits them.
So…not like the speakers and TV cameras suspended from the roof of a domed stadium?
Correct.
This applies to kicks as well - except, of course, a field goal or extra-point attempt which hits an upright or crossbar and then goes through successfully. (So, for example, going back to the end of last year’s Auburn-Alabama game, had that last field goal attempt hit the crossbar and bounced back, it could not then be recovered and run back for a touchdown.)
Interesting contrast to rugby, in which a ball that hits the goalposts is still very much in play - if it goes over the bar and between the uprights then the goal has been scored, but a rebound is fair game for anyone and it’s possible, though rare, for a member of the kicking team to catch or recover the rebound and score a try. It’s also standard policy to station a defender near the posts during a penalty kick in order to field the possible rebound. During a conversion (point after touchdown) the point’s moot anyway as the ball is out of play if the kick doesn’t go over.
Since rugby goalposts are normally simple poles sunk in the turf at the goal line, the law provides for esoterica such as the ball being grounded on the field of play but touching a goalpost…
In college football if the kick doesn’t go out of play it can be returned for a 2 point safety by the defending team.