RULES CLARIFICATION - A FORWARD HANDOFF

Hamilton Tiger-Cats
#1

Just saw the Als flea-flicker TD from Adams to Bray and made me think about this.

Adams started the play by handing the ball off to a player coming around from the outside, like a reverse and the player passed in front of Adams - that is, the player was closer to the Argo goal line than Adams was…isn’t that considered a forward advance of the ball, and the second forward advance - the long pass - would be illegal?

Guess not…but thought I’d ask some of you folks…

#2

Haven’t watched the game yet but I’m recording it so I haven’t seen the play. However the issues is not an advance of the ball forward but you can’t have more than one forward pass. So if the first advance was a hand-off you can still pass the ball forward as long as you are behind the line of scrimmage.

#3

Many years ago ('60s, possibly '70s or even '80s?), a handoff had to be backward. A forward handoff resulted in a penalty. Also, underhand forward passes were illegal. Not sure when those rules changed, but both are now allowed.

Now the definition of a handoff pass is basically a pass that isn’t thrown.

[b]RULE 6 - PASSING SECTION 2 – HANDOFF PASS [/b] A handoff pass is made on a scrimmage play when the ball is handed, but not thrown, by one Team A player to another behind the line of scrimmage. There is no restriction on the number of handoff passes on any one play. The player receiving the handoff pass must not be occupying the position of an interior lineman at the instant of receiving the ball.
And as 60YearFan says, the only restrictions on forward passes is that there can only be one, and that it must be from behind the line of scrimmage.

Interestingly, I cannot find a rule that states that the ball cannot have crossed the line before a forward pass. Can a player take the ball across the line, then run back across and throw it? I always thought that was illegal, but maybe not? Anyone see that rule?

EDIT: I think I found it in Section 3 - Offside Pass, Articles 2 and 3.

#4

Thanks for the research and the clarification folks!

#5

A little bit of Tiger-Cat history was involved in that Montreal play, which led to this thread. The connection is explained, here in print, and Khari Jones tells the story, supported with old TiCat video, starting at the 2:16 mark of his post-game interview: