After LSU scored late in the game, on the kickoff the beaver player clearly stepped on the goal line and went back and kneeled it for a touchback. Should'nt a safety have been called?
Thats true but I would have to see the replay to see whether the returner's foot broke the plane of the goal line.
Watched tape of game this morning and he stepped on the line. His foot covered half the width of the line. Was a good call. During the game thoug I was mad at the call heh. Maybe I can get a pic of it off slow-mo.
What's the rule on that anyways? Does a player just have to have one foot partially out or is it both feet all the way out for it to be a safety if he returns to the endzone? I know in basketball for it to be over and back (a similar call to what potentially happened last night) both feet and the ball must be into the frontcourt for a violation to occur. Does anybody know the official rule?
If he would have stepped across the line, then the ref would not have blown the whistle, and at that point it would be up to the return man to realize that he needs to run with the ball. If he fails to, and is tackled in the end zone, then its a safety. It's a live ball, basically.
Does that mean that even if he has taken a knee, but the ref hasn't blown the whistle, that he can get up and run to avoid the safety; or, if he leaves the endzone and then goes back in and takes a knee, is it an automatic safety?
If he leaves and goes back in and downs it, it would be a safety. The goal line is part of the end-zone, so he would have needed to step on the green grass on the other side to be out of the end-zone.
The whole thing I'm going for is what the meaning of 'leave the endzone' is. Does it mean both feet all the way out or one foot partially out? I'm just curious.
