call me old fashioned or whatever, but i hate that rule, where only the ball has to cross the plane to be considered a touchdown.. i played in an era where not only the ball had to cross the plane, you had to actually maintain possesion of it... i can't count how many td's have been scored in the last few years where the ball has been fumbled emmediately after the ball crossed the goal.

before you attack, don't get me wrong, i'm very grateful for the Rice and G Tate TD's yesterday, but i just think this game is getting too damn soft, can't touch qb's any more even when there outside the pocket, can't touch recievers any more, a slight hands to the face is a huge penalty... just go ahead and purchase the flags, because that's the direction this league is heading to, flag football..

guess i'm just longing for the old days, when football was about blood and guts, and players like Tatum and LT were to be feared when you cross the middle or run the ball.. guess i'm just getting old and stuck in my ways.. your opinions?

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Not trying to flame here, but logic dictates that once you score a touchdown (the ball crosses the goal line) then the play is over. How can you fumble the ball AFTER you score the touchdown? If this was the case, wouldn't spiking it be considered a fumble?

I believe that rule has been in place since 1889...

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Seriously, I think the players are so much bigger and faster now than they were then, that if they were allowed to play that way, someone would literally get killed on the field.

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true, they're getting killed now.. crossing the plane then fumbling i can kind of see, but if you're stretching out for the goal line and fumbled should be a fumble, or if you're in the air, catch the ball, get hit as you land and the ball is dislodged , i think the defense made the play and should be awarded the stop... ]

not everyones cup of tea, JMO

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I guess the problem I am having with your argument is...the NFL has never been that way. It has always been as long as I can remember, and from everything I have ever seen/read, if the ball breaks the plane it is game over. The difference I guess now is instant replay (and reviewing every score) changes the dynamic of calling a TD or fumble in real time. That doesn't mean the rules are different though, in regards to a ball crossing the plane of the goal line, so your point is ultimately moot.

If anything they have made it MORE towards what you are describing with needing to complete the act of the catch all the way though, and things like that.

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If you are in the endzone when you are making a catch, you must still continue through to make the catch legal before it's a touchdown. The defense can knock the ball out or knock you out of bounds to make it not a catch and therefor not a touchdown. This is the rule and has been enforced many times.

i hear what you're saying, and i could be wrong, i just think you should clearly maintain possesion of the ball as it's crossing the plane, or when you come down from a catch.. seems like cheap TD's to me...

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seen it called both ways this year.. guy caught the ball came down with two feet was hit emmediately, and as he was falling out of bounds, the ball was clearly knocked loose, it was called a td because he came down with two feet.... even though the defender dislodged the ball...

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Based on the 1889 rule change, you ARE getting old... much older than you look in your avatar.

It's *always* been "ball, in possession of the player, must break the plane to score a touchdown".

And I've been watching NFL Football since the early 60's (B&W TV and only one game televised per week... no blackout rules back then either). I grew up in suburban Chicago a Bears fan. I remember the day that the Bears drafted Dick Butkus, Mike Ditka and Gale Sayers... not all on the same day, of course.

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"Wilson will come in there pissing lightning and crapping thunder! Watch out!" ... Tech Worlds, 5/9/2012

Endzorn, 3 min. later... "Football aside, I would pay money to see that. I'm serious."

Moved to Seattle in 1980. Hawks fan for 33 years and counting.

You do realize that is what the rules state? If you have possession of the ball once crossing the plane, or maintain control through the catch in the endzone, the play is over. If you are losing the possession of the ball as you break the plane, or going to the ground during a catch, no touchdown. Those are the rules, and in case of breaking the plane with the ball, that has been the case as football has existed in its current form. So I am not sure exactly what you are trying to argue for, or what was different when you played. Once the play is considered dead, it doesn't matter what happens to the ball afterwards.

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Actually, Jeremy Shockey caught the ball in the endzone in the center and a split second after his feet touched, he was nailed and the ball dislodged. Results......touchdown. The rule for that game was, he caught the ball in the air, had possession, and the second both feet touched, the play is over resulting in a touchdown.

I think its a crap rule, and should have went the other way. But that was the way they ruled it and that dick Mike Peroeirerarra said at the time is what the correct call

my point is , i don't like the rule... not trying to make it hard to understand? i don't like it, that's just my opinion.. i think a player should maintain possesion of the ball, just like any other play on the field.. you're entitled to disagree..

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They actually used to get killed on the field. Between 1900 and 1910 there more than 50 on field deaths in football.

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Beast Mode...try BORG MODE

Driver of the PC/JS Bandwagon since 2010

I didn't see the play and can't comment on whether it was the correct call or not, but what it sounds like here is an issue with the interpretation of the rules, not the rule itself. As we saw yesterday (and many other times through Seahawks history), the officials are human, and they often interpret the play a little differently than what we think it should be. It's the nature of the beast and will ALWAYS give us something to complain about week in and week out.

What does Jack Tatum have to do with the ball breaking the plane of the goal line?

You don't sound old because you don't like a rule, you sound old because you started talking about one thing and ended up talking about something totally unrelated.

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If you haven't seen any number of Golden Tate catches and/or TD's this season then, yeah, maybe so...

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What's making this game soft is the extent to which they are protecting the QB's.

the whole post was in reference to the league is getting soft, using that rule as one of the examples.. all these ticky tack fouls and calls/rulings makes it harder for me to enjoy the game.. the game was played differently back in the tatum and LT days,, do you not agree?

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which he has fumbled on a few of them but was ruled a TD.. so yes i enjoyed the fact it was ruled a TD, but thought it should be a fumble... i know i know, the rules clearly states!!!! again JMO

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