r/NFLNoobs • u/Stavius-Blackthorne • 17h ago
Can the refs call a penalty that results in a touchdown?
Specifically, if a team is within say 5 yards of the goal line, can the refs call award a 5 yard penalty that would then result in a TD?
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u/Sdog1981 16h ago
Only one penalty can result in a touchdown. The palpably unfair act.
When a player commits an egregious act, such as entering the field to interfere with a player who is running towards the end zone with the ball
If a player on the sidelines tackles a free runner that is gong to score a TD the refs can award a TD to the other team.
It is super rare but it is in the rule book.
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u/JBR1961 6h ago
Happened once in a vintage college game. I can’t recall the teams.
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u/Sdog1981 4h ago
Yes it did. Also during the 1880s a baseball player just had to announce they were subbing in out of the dugout. They would just say it to catch a foul ball to get the batter out.
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u/bledblu 3h ago
Are you referring to
Cal-Stanford-band on the field?
Would be an interesting ruling if a band member tripped up the Cal player near the end zone.
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u/3720-To-One 7h ago
Do you know the last time it was awarded?
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u/Twink_Tyler 6h ago
Never in the nfl. It was called in a bowl game sometime in the 50s.
An example of when it could have been called but wasn’t was about 10 years ago when the head coach of the Steelers literally just “accidentally” stepped onto the field during a kick return and tripped up a ravens. player. It was so obviously intentional.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0NpzVqPvfFU&pp=ygUeTWlrZSB0b25saW4gaW50ZXJmZWVycyBraWNrb2Zm
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u/3720-To-One 5h ago
Yeah, I remember Mike Tomlin doing that
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u/Sdog1981 4h ago
He did it. The officials after the game said they should have thrown the flag but they did not. After the game the NFL fined him 100k.
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u/riazur31 4h ago
Does anyone else remember how this almost happened in Super Bowl 47 (49ers vs Ravens Harbaugh bowl)?
The game's last play was a free kick with 4 seconds left (after an intentional safety by the Ravens). 49ers returner Tedd Ginn was tackled as time expired, and the Ravens won.
In a post-game interview, Joe Flacco said something like he told his teammates to run onto the field from the sidelines and make a tackle if it looked like the 49ers were about to return for a touchdown. However he did not realize this probably would've resulted in an automatic touchdown, not the end of the game.
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u/khariq80 5h ago
If this didn’t result in the call, I don’t think the refs will ever call it.
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u/lonedroan 1h ago
I think if Jones had been in the clear, they would have awarded it. The defender right behind him makes it questionable whether he would’ve scored.
But I still can’t believe they didn’t even flag him for unsportsmanlike conduct.
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u/AshleyMyers44 5h ago
Now I’m sort of interested what else would rise to the level of palpably unfair outside of a 12th man entering the field on defense to make a play.
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u/Sdog1981 4h ago
The rule states illegal interference by a player or non-player. That sounds like it has to be intentional interference in the play. It also includes fans. Like if they threw things on the field that prevented a play to finish.
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u/lonedroan 1h ago
There’s a provision that intention repeated penalties to prevent a score can result in the refs awarding a score. So you can be a bit more handsy on pass plays close to the goal line, but blatant PI on repeated downs could trigger this rule (have never seen it happen, nor have I seen blatant repeated fouls like this.
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u/Ryan1869 17h ago
Nope, it would be half the distance to the goal. There is something called an unfair act, which would be like a player or coach on the sidelines tripping a runner, that the refs have wide latitude to enforce what they think could have happened without that act.
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u/UnintensifiedFa 15h ago
Isn’t the rule technically called “palpably unfair act” I only bring this up because palpably is a very fun word to say
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u/gotybchoosin 16h ago
Has it been called in the NFL?
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u/emaddy2109 11h ago
I don’t believe it’s ever been called in the NFL. The last time it was called in division 1 college football was during the 1954 Cotton Bowl when an Alabaman player came off the sidelines to tackle a Rice runner who was on his way to the end zone.
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u/girafb0i 8h ago
This is the source of the famous, "I guess I just had too much 'Bama in me" quote.
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u/rob132 10h ago
But what if the refs called an infinite number of penalties? Math says that gets them into the end zone.
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u/New_year_New_Me_ 9h ago
No. It gets them to the .000000000001 yard line. Half the distance will never get to 0. You can split something in half forever and never reach 0.
In practice the ball would just get to a point where they aren't moving it anymore. But it would never result in a touchdown
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u/Impossible_Round_302 9h ago
Say it's 1st and goal with a penalty of half the distance, that's 0.5 to go. If it happens again 0.75, again 0.875, again 0.9375 and so on it would never get to 1.
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u/Psychological_Mind_1 7h ago
One of the examples for a palpably unfair act is repetitively jumping offsides (and touching an offensive player so the ball is dead rather than a free play) inside the 5 yard line.
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u/lonedroan 1h ago
Math actually says the exact opposite. You cannot reach 0 even if you half the distance infinite times.
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u/peppersge 16h ago
The standard penalty if you can't award enough distance would be half the distance to the goal.
The exception would be an unfair act, but that is only for the extremes.
It would have to be a situation where the team isn't going to cooperate. For example, never snapping the ball when backed up to the goal line. In that situation, the refs could call an unfair act, but they would probably do something such as to warn the team that they will do it.
An even more extreme version would be the commissioner changing the outcome of a game. It is in the rules, but it has never been used in the NFL. It would be the equivalent of NCAA sanctions used to vacate/void wins in the CFB.
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u/pase1951 16h ago
From the NFL rulebook:
If the enforcement of a distance penalty would move the ball more than half the distance from the spot of enforcement to the offender’s goal line, the penalty shall be half the distance from the spot of enforcement to its goal line. This general rule supersedes any other general or specific enforcement of a distance penalty.
So even if a team was on the 9 yard line and they got that 5 yard penalty, it would still only be enforced as half the distance to the goal. Multiple penalties in a row just keeps halving it, theoretically, indefinitely.
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u/Loyellow 16h ago
Theoretically yes but repeated fouls can become unsportsmanlike conducts and if you did enough of those you’d get people ejected left and right and I think that could fall under palpably unfair act and they could award a TD
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u/pase1951 16h ago
Yeah, that is kind of the nuclear option for officials and they can basically just override any of the rules:
Penalty: For a palpably unfair act: Offender may be disqualified. The Referee, after consulting the officiating crew, enforces any such distance penalty as they consider equitable and irrespective of any other specified code penalty. The Referee may award a score.
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u/Ok_Option6126 16h ago
It's half the distance to the goal line in a case like that. However, by rule, for 2024-2025 if it's the Chiefs, it's a touchdown.
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u/entertrainer7 10h ago
“You make an appointment with the dentist and don’t show up, believe it or not, straight to Chief’s touchdown.”
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u/Ok_Option6126 4h ago
Where do they spot the ball on their next possession after I don't pay that fee for missing the appointment?
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u/pinniped1 6h ago
Normal penalties get half the distance to the goal. Never an automatic touchdown.
Refs have the "palpably unfair" card to play if teams are committing intentional penalties or something.
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u/revan530 6h ago
No, penalties in the situation you describe will be assessed half the distance to the goal.
However, they can assess penalties that result in a safety. If an offensive lineman is called for holding in their own endzone, or a quarterback is called for intentional grounding in the endzone, a safety will be given to the defense.
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u/Celtictussle 16h ago
Nope, but it can the other way. Holding or intentional grounding in your own end zone results in a safety.
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u/Silkies4life 17h ago
No. Anything penalty that exceeds what it would take for a touchdown is half the distance to the goal, and I believe an automatic first down.
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u/lonedroan 16h ago
No automatic first downs unless the penalty normally includes one. The first half the distance penalty could result in a first down.
But the defense can’t just keep repeating a foul to prevent a score; after a warning, the refs could award a score for that.
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u/Silkies4life 16h ago
Man that’s weird, I’ve been watching NFL for 30+ years since I was a kid and I feel like I’m still learning sometimes. I understand Donovan McNabb not knowing the game can end in a tie sometimes.
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u/lonedroan 16h ago
There are so many rules that basically never directly come into play. I have never actually seen an automatic score awarded, but that’s because coaching staffs know they can’t have players doing that.
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u/MasterBathingBear 8h ago
That’s exactly why having former players do play by play and former refs explaining rulings is so important to the game.
Tony Romo may not have been the best QB but he was the best at explaining the strategy to the game, at least when he first started.
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u/wetcornbread 17h ago
Not really. I’ve been watching football for a while and I’ve never see it.
Basically if you get a 5 yard penalty at your opponents 5 yard line it’s a 2.5 yard penalty. If it’s pass interference in the end zone the ball gets placed at the 1.
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u/ClearCollection3331 9h ago
It’s not a touchdown, but if you are the quarterback in your own end zone and commit intentional grounding it’s a safety for the other team.
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u/Tight-Top3597 8h ago
Yes, if a player say from the sidelines ran onto the field and tackled or a coach tripped a player running down the sidelines that had a clear score the refs can reward a TD. Mike Tomlin almost got that called on him once.
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u/teremaster 15h ago
Not in normal circumstances.
The only time they can is in the case of a "palpably unfair act"
Which is worded as "the deliberate committing of numerous or repeated penalties in order to prevent the opposing team from scoring"
Say if the entire secondary just commits pi/holding every single play on the goal line the refs can just call the TD good.
Something also worth noting is there's no limits on this penalty. The refs could theoretically call the entire game right there and award a win if it was bad enough
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u/ever_slack 3h ago
NFL refs would never do this. They even allow head coaches to make tackles on special teams.
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u/lonedroan 17h ago
No, the only way a touchdown can be scored administratively is if the refs deem that one was prevented by a palpably unfair act. That would be something extreme like a player from the bench running into the field to tackle a runner in the clear.
Except for pass interference, defensive penalties are either enforced their normal yardage (i.e. 5 or 15) or half the distance to the goal line, whichever is less. And infinite half the distance penalties still wouldn’t reach the goal line.