RSS
Home
UFL gets rid of ridiculous tuck rule
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
.jpg)
January 19, 2002. The Raiders seemingly beat the Patriots in a snowy playoff game in New England. Tom Brady fumbled the ball and Greg Biekert recovered it and Oakland was going to run out the clock. Then the world was introduced to the tuck rule.
After a lengthy review, that at the time didn’t seem to make any sense, referee Walt Coleman reversed the call that Brady had fumbled. When he announced his decision on the field, Coleman didn’t mention the tuck rule, instead saying that Brady’s arm was “going forward.” However, for all intensive purposes the tuck rule was invoked and the matchup is now known as the tuck rule game.
According to Wikipedia, the tuck rule applies if the quarterback brings his arm forward in a passing motion, but then changes his mind and tries to keep hold of the football rather than making a pass. In this situation, if the quarterback loses the ball while stopping his passing motion or bringing the ball back to his body, it is still considered a forward pass (and thus an incomplete pass if the ball hits the ground), even if the ball is moving backwards at the time the quarterback loses it.
The biggest problem with the rule is the intent. In the embedded video below (starting at the 3:20 mark) it’s obvious that Brady had completed a forward motion and had decided against throwing the pass at that moment. Then he’s hit by Charles Woodson and loses the ball. The ruling should be a fumble, not some silly tuck rule that truthfully wasn’t part of the average NFL fan’s vocabulary until after that game was over.
Given new life, the Pats would tie the game in regulation, win it in overtime and a few weeks later become Super Bowl champions. How would history be different for Brady and the Patriots if the call on the field stood, as it should’ve because the intent of throwing a forward pass wasn’t part of the fumble.
In a release from the UFL earlier in the day, the league announced the deletion of the tuck rule which makes a loose ball a fumble if the passer loses possession of the ball as he is putting it away after completion of the forward pass motion.
What other rule modifications will the UFL be going with when the season begins in October? Click here to find out.
- Get more UFL coverage on examiner.com
- Check out the UFL’s Web site
- Stay on top of UFL news with UFL Access
Related Articles:
Comments
As many fantasy owners begin to make their playoff runs, there are numerous lineup decisions that need to be made. Many wide receivers who could make …
Nominees from Canadian Football League teams were announced in six different categories for the Gibson’s Finest CFL Player Awards. Check out the …
