Watching one play in the Chiefs-Broncos game tonight, where two Chiefs players celebrated on their way to the end zone prior to even crossing the goal line, made me wonder - what if two Chiefs players simultaneously held on to the football as a form of premature celebration - the end of the football in one Chief’s hand and the other end in the other Chief’s hand - and crossed the end zone - which player gets credited with the touchdown? Both?
I’m not certain that there’s a rule that would cover this (i.e., two players on the same team simultaneously having possession), but my guess would be that it would be credited to the player who had possession of the ball first (i.e, just before the other player put a hand on the ball).
I’m pretty sure that you have to lose possession in order to for someone else to gain, it, so that wouldn’t apply.
However, imagine a hail mary where two offensive players come down with the ball, each with two hands on it, not realizing that they are struggling to take it away from a teammate. Who gets credit there? I guess you probably review and see who touched it first?
Coin flip? Or maybe give them both credit. I wonder if this has ever come up in terms of possession of the ball, but I can see it in questions of tackles and sacks.
I can’t imagine a rule because it doesn’t matter to the game at all. It would only matter to fantasy, and to players who have a certain bonus for X number of yard/TDs/etc.
I didn’t see the play, but can only imagine two burly linemen recovering a fumble and joyously skipping, in unison, the last ten yards into the end zone, tossing flower petals with their other hands while “Happy Together” played over the PA system.
Was that pretty much what happened?
On the other hand, baseball has a great many rules for matters that similarly don’t effect the outcome of the game. Earning a base has the same effect on the game as getting there on an error, and yet the rulebooks define errors, for instance.
No, it was just 2 Chiefs high-fiving on their way to the end zone, but that got me on to the tangent of what if they’d celebrated by intentionally holding the football together as they crossed the goal plane and muddle up the scoring statistics-keeping.
I believe it’s possible to be credited with half of a sack, if two people bring down the quarterback at the same time. I’ve never heard of any other stat being divisible, however.
The closest thing I could find in the NCAA Football Statistician’s Manual is a reference to two players recovering a fumble simultaneously; it says that the official statistician would use his judgment to choose one of the two players.
Imagine that the second player isn’t on the offense, but the defense. Then the answer should be obvious.
On review you need to see who first took possession and whether they maintained possession throughout. Sometimes that’s a subjective call, but football is full of subjective calls (which often lead to coaches yelling at refs).
Unless you’re a replacement ref, I guess.
I’m thinking the question just doesn’t make sense as posed. If someone else has an equal amount of control of the football neither of the two players has possession of it.
Until someone obtains possession of the football in the end zone (which requires having more control over the football than any other player) there is no touchdown. If they both drop it before either of them has possession it’s a live ball or possibly an incomplete pass depending how the play went to that point.
But maybe the NFL uses a different definition of ‘possession’, I’m not sure.
I was just going to mention that.
Still mad? Moi?
fuckin seachickens…
Actually, the NFL rules specifically state that if an offensive & defensive player both catch the ball simultaneously, it counts as a completed pass for the passing team:
So the rules do address the possibility of a simultaneous catch between opponents, and declare who actually gets possession. Since in the case of two players on the same team catching the ball simultaneously there doesn’t have to be an on field decision, the rules don’t address it.
Traveling
At least that is how the refs in a Harlem Globetrotter vs Washington Generals would call it!