Players dropping ball before crossing goal line

Submitted by BlueFaninCincy on

WTF is up with all these guys dropping the ball just before crossing the goal line?  I really cannot understand what's happening.  Are these guys hotdogging or is it just a rash of brain farts?  If my team had a touchdown taken away as a result of this stupidity I would just go bananas.

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lhglrkwg

September 18th, 2016 at 11:45 AM ^

Guys being dumb trying to look cool. If I'm a head coach, I'm telling the last defender chasing a guy into the endzone to immediately jump on any ball close to the goalline. I think Texas got jobbed last night because - even though Cal dropped it - it was not 'immediately' recovered by Texas

Until people stop being dumb, just assume it's a live ball

Joined: 07/03/2008

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snarling wolverine

September 18th, 2016 at 12:03 PM ^

I don't even understand how it's supposed to look cool.  Is it supposed to be the football equivalent of "dropping the mic"?   It's a weird trend to be catching on.

Definitely agree that Texas got jobbed.  It looked to me like they picked the ball up as soon as they could.  I got the impression that the refs just wanted to go home at that point.

 

 

 

Joined: 12/14/2011

MGoPoints: 98328

snarling wolverine

September 18th, 2016 at 12:24 PM ^

I've never heard of there being some kind of time limit on fumble recoveries.  If it's a live ball, it shouldn't matter if not everyone on the field is aware of it.   I'm surprised the referees didn't just say the "play was dead because of an inadvertent whistle" excuse, which is more common.  Of course, that's also an admission of a mistake on their part.

That ball should have been live and was, ultimately, picked up by a Texas player.  Even if the UT guy didn't know it was a live ball or not, he did pick it up.  I wasn't rooting for Texas but I see no logical explanation as to why Cal should have gotten the ball back for first and goal.

 

Joined: 12/14/2011

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Carcajou

September 19th, 2016 at 12:17 AM ^

The officials must have whistled or indicated the ball being dead. They determined that occurred when the ball was at the 1 yard line.

You can't have some players continue hitting and scrambling after the play is declared over and some who are not. It's a safety issue.

Yes, somebody blew it.

Joined: 02/26/2009

MGoPoints: 5768

Kmaize

September 18th, 2016 at 1:04 PM ^

Exactly... the refs screwed that up and Texas lost the game on that play. Last year vs Oregon that ball was on the ground for like 5 seconds before anyone knew what to do with it. Then it was bumbled around for a few more before anyone returned it back for the score. 

Mixon did the same dumb crap vs Osu last night on a TD that shouldn't have been a TD. 

Joined: 01/23/2015

MGoPoints: 189

FGB

September 18th, 2016 at 2:56 PM ^

The refs did not blow the play dead in the Oregon game. They saw it was a fumble live and let the play run.

Also I guess you can say "Texas lost on that play" but that makes it sound like it cost them the win, which is not the same thing.  They were down 7 with no timeouts from the their own 20 with 80 seconds left.  And Charlie Strong as their coach.  So not exactly high likelihood of success.

Joined: 09/24/2009

MGoPoints: 3192

El Jeffe

September 18th, 2016 at 12:20 PM ^

Man, I dunno. If you watch the video the ball is on the ground for three seconds, tops. And two players pass it by and the third picks it up. I wonder what the actual rule is. Like, how do the refs decide what is "soon enough?"

I agree though that the D should jump on every loose ball and let the refs sort it out.

Joined: 07/07/2008

MGoPoints: 27329

M-Dog

September 18th, 2016 at 1:18 PM ^

"dropping the mic"

That's a good analogy.  It's exactly what it is.

It's the opposite of endzone dance where we've lectured players for years to act like they've been there before.

It's gone to the other extreme:  "I've done this so many times, it means nothing to me.  I'm too cool to care about it."   

Joined: 07/06/2008

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PopeLando

September 18th, 2016 at 11:47 AM ^

Didn't Desean Jackson kick this trend off when he was on the Eagles some years ago? It's both. Combine "showboating" with "counting chickens before they hatch" and bibbity bobbity boo...

Joined: 08/01/2015

MGoPoints: 68235

PeterKlima

September 18th, 2016 at 11:57 AM ^

I thought it was a form of protest like sitting for the national anthem. These kids don't think football is fair and they want to be paid, so they drop the football to show the football and fan base that a football isn't as important as a player.

Joined: 08/24/2008

MGoPoints: -313

Michology 101

September 18th, 2016 at 12:09 PM ^

It's like a bat flip when a guy hits a home run. Some football players think it looks cool to nonchalantly flip the ball backwards as they cross the goal line. It wouldn't be such a big deal if some of them waited to actually cross the goal line first.

Joined: 06/02/2014

MGoPoints: 3801

WolverineHistorian

September 18th, 2016 at 12:01 PM ^

First time I ever saw that happen was when Notre Dame did it against us in 2010. It remained a touchdown because the game was in South Bend, naturally. Thankfully, Denard scored the game winner for us on the very next drive but players across the country have been continuing to do this ever since. I don't understand this need they have to always drop the football immediately once they think they've touched the goal line.

Joined: 08/10/2009

MGoPoints: 55466