OK, I am posting this at the urging of my wife..... She believes that stripping of the ball should not be allowed. She witnessed a receiver making a catch and then be held up by two tacklers and not allowed to go down while a third defender managed to rip the ball out of the receivers arms. Her analogy is that it appears to be like purse snatching, which is a crime. She thinks that if the offense loses control of the ball and a true fumble takes place then whoever comes up with it should get it but to able to forcibly take it away from someone while they are being held by other players should not take place. She is correcting me to make sure her idea is understood. She thinks that anytime a ball strip is made it is wrong at any time. If a player catches it it is his and stripping is stealing it from the receiver. But she does say that if the other teams can do it, it is okay with her that the team she likes can do it also. What is your opinion of forcibly stripping the ball from someone? She is curious to know your opinions.....
If the receiver is literally being mugged by several guys then I agree with her, but for ONE guy to strip it away is fair game.
+1 [I think!.....] It's a tough one; IIRC, it was AP who said recently that he was getting sick & tired of guys holding him up and then other guys trying to strip the ball - He simply couldn't get to the ground. Once "forward progress" is stopped, blow the play dead maybe? Cheers, Ian
It seems to me that fumbles and having the ball stripped should be seperated in the stats. They are completely different things.
This is correct. Also, if a receiver is running down the sidelines a defender may try to punch the ball ot of his control and cause a fumble. That is okay also, but the pursuit of this tactic has resulted in more forward yardage than fumbled posessions in my guesstimation. BT
Hmmmm - Interesting thought. I do know they're being trained to try and knock it loose these days. Which by extension suggests they're also being taught to keep the guy off the ground while others "have at it". Would certainly be a significant rule change - Maybe for the better (?) Seems very few of 'em know how to make a clean open field tackle (see; rugby) - We were taught to go round the guys knees/thighs - Doesn't matter how big/strong he is, he *is* going to the ground - Many times I've seen 'em hanging round necks and being carried along. Cheers, Ian
Anything should be fair. Frankly, the way the NFL is going these days, it might as well be flag football.
Stripping the ball is really not athleticism. It's like getting punched in the ball in an MMA fight. It's a cheap shot.
FWIW http://www.steelersfever.com/nfl_history_of_rules.html 2002 The act of batting and stripping the ball from player possession is legalized.
Thank you - I also think the NFL is getting ridiculously soft and backwards...ie, to protect players they move the kick-off to the 35 yard line to increase touchbacks...yet it legal to chop-block lineman in certain situations...if I was a lineman (or any other player for that matter), I would sue the NFL for discrimination or inequality of rights since under NO circumstances can you hit a QB in the knee area, however the same cannot be said about any other position.
If the ball carrier is held up and not moving forward then the play should be blown dead and the ball shouldn't be able to be stripped. If the carrier is still moving forward it should be fair game to strip the ball.
Now you have done it! I have decided that LSU will not be a close game with Alabama, but a rather ugly blowout win against the Red Tide. It will remind the Tide of that bowl game against Utah a few years ago!!! BT
