# Goal post question **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [September 28, 2014, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goal-post-question/699795 "2014-09-28T18:55:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![movingfinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@movingfinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/movingfinger)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2014, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goal-post-question/699795/1 "2014-09-28T18:55:11Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2014, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goal-post-question/699795/2 "2014-09-28T19:44:10Z")
Goal posts are out of the playing field. The ball is dead once it hits them. ---
**Author:** ![movingfinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@movingfinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/movingfinger)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2014, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goal-post-question/699795/3 "2014-09-29T06:44:12Z")
So…not like the speakers and TV cameras suspended from the roof of a domed stadium? ---
**Author:** ![Fleetwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fleetwood/32/271_2.png) [@Fleetwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fleetwood)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2014, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goal-post-question/699795/4 "2014-09-29T11:38:37Z")
Correct. ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2014, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goal-post-question/699795/5 "2014-09-29T19:45:31Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > Goal posts are out of the playing field. The ball is dead once it hits them. 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.) ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2014, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goal-post-question/699795/6 "2014-09-29T20:30:52Z")
> [@That\_Don\_Guy](#): > > 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… ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2014, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goal-post-question/699795/7 "2014-09-29T20:44:38Z")
> [@Malacandra](#): > > 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. 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.