Say there’s a punt. The kick gets off, the receiver gets the ball and starts progressing forward. A player behind him has a heart attack. Players in the front are unaware of the situation so the play continues towards the goal at the other end of the field. Paramedics and team trainers rush to the aid of the guy down on the field. Meanwhile, play continues upfield and the receiver runs it in for a TD.
Does the TD count? Do they bring the play back? Do trainers and paramedics count towards the foul of having too many men on the field?
I thought of this scenario a few weeks ago during a Browns preseason game. Someone got hurt during a punt or a kickoff. Of course, he was not mortally wounded and, as will happen in football, nobody noticed he was “seriously ouchy down” until play stopped so nobody came on the field to attend to the guy until play stopped.
But, it made me wonder what happens during a really long play (as punt returns can be) and someone is very obviously critically injured and very visible (as a lone player left behind during a return could be).
I suspect this can apply to soccer too. Any sport where the field is big enough for play to continue fairly far away from the injured player and there is a rule about the number of players on the field.
I doubt medics would rush the field for a heart attack as it would be unclear just what was happening. The play would continue then the medics would run on the field.
Presumably if something so drastic happened as to cause medics to immediately run on the field the Refs would blow the play dead and they’d have a do-over once the injured player was removed from the field.
That said till the Refs blow the whistle the play is live.
There was a famous Stanford game where it was assumed the game was over and the band walked on the field. The play was not over and the player ran right through the band and scored a touchdown despite the other people on the field.
A play no one at Stanford (or Cal) will ever forget.
I agree that play would probably continue until the touchdown at which point the medics would come on and collectively go oh fuck. But if the officials suspected it was more serious intially played would be blown dead.
In rugby union, when it can be a few minutes until the next break in play, the medics run onto the field once any player goes down injured, leading to the bizzare sight of players dodging between medics and injured players as the game continues around them. Looks more like battlefield triage at times. Of course if the referee deems it to be a serious injury to the head or spine he will blow up play immediately.
Short of someone’s head flying off their shoulders or something, I don’t see how you’d ever know that a player had an immediate life threatening event on the field instead of just pulling a hamstring or tearing a tendon or something like that. There are nearly 30 guys running around on the field at once, and the average play is only 10 seconds long or so - one guy falling to the ground isn’t going to cause the trainers/EMTs to interrupt the play.
In hockey if the injured player is near the puck or action the ref will blow the play dead. If the player is behind the play they ref may let them play on for a short while.
High school kid has a heart attack after he scored a TD (from today’s news)
There is no way the trainers could get on the field before the play ends. The play would take, at most, about 15 seconds. Most people will be watching the ball carrier, plus the sight of a football player lying on the ground it hardly unusual. No one would realize what was happening quickly enough for it to interfere with the play.
We had a high school kid get hit with a ball on his chest in lacrosse and his heart stopped. Lucky for him a doctor was at the game and was able to start CPR right away and he came out OK.
