What kind of stupid rule is this?

I'm watching the Chargers/Steelers game, and apparently if a player fumbles the ball without the last two minutes of the second or fourth quarters, only the fumbling player can retreive it in the endzone.

What the hell kind of stupid rule is that? It makes no sense... :expressionless:

Well it is supposed to prevent people from purposely "fumbling" the ball and letting their broseph advance it. Very stupid, and rather pointless to me, but just another part of the No Fun League. But how about the team that is actually having fun and is fun to watch! My New Orleans Saints are back baby.

at least the CFL doesn’t have that rule, mind you in the CFL you cant technically fumble forward either, aka if an offensive player fumbles the ball and it goes though the end zone w/o being touched, the last team to have possession gets the ball back on the one yard line, making a TD almost automatic. Good for entertainment, not so good for the defense, I’m not sure what happens if the D are the last to touch the ball but I guess they get possession at the 25 yard line.

This rule goes back to a game where the Raiders were outside the endzone and instead of trying to recover their fumble, the ball was directed forward into the endzone and Dave Casper fell on it for the winning score. Many believe that it was the league trying to again conspire against Al Davis.

I like Brees Sack, an NFL excellent qb at about 6 feet tall, not the prototypical NFL qb. The guy is good. Ralph Wilson would have given up on him like he did Flutie because he wasn't "tall" enough.

Weird stuff with this fumbling, didn't realize the rules on this.

You’re correct and here’s exactly what happened.

The Holy Roller
9/10/78

The Raiders were trailing the San Diego Chargers 20-14. They had the ball on the Charger 23-yard line with only 5 seconds left. Ken Stabler faded back to pass, but was caught by Woodrow Lowe before he could get rid of the ball. In desperation he intentionally fumbled it forward. The ball bounced ahead to FB Pete Banaszak at the 11-yard line. Surrounded by Chargers, Pete decided to kick the ball forward himself rather than try to cover it. It reached Dave Casper at the 5-yard line. Casper kicked it into the end zone and pounced on it, recovering the 23-yard forward fumble for the winning touchdown. The Chargers were furious but the play was legal and stood. It was quickly made illegal, though, following the season, and the rule outlawing it is often called “the Raider rule.”