Players in motion

[zoogs]

Hmm, I came across something interesting on ESPN:

 

http://espn.go.com/ncf/features/spreadtheword/_/page/2

 

The opponents of the Notre Dame shift won the decades-long argument when the Football Rules Committee decided in 1927 to compel players in motion to come to a stop for one full second.

 

Is that rule no longer in effect? Because on that play, Thunder Collins was still moving when the ball was snapped, right? Same deal with Zac Taylor's walk-off-the-field fake against CU in '06....what happened with this rule, how come it got (apparently?) reversed?

[MinnesotaHusker]

I'm pretty sure the rule now is that only one player can be in motion at the snap, ND was motioning the entire backfield. Technically you can still do that, but most of them would need to stop, only one could be moving.

[knapplc]

Hmm, I came across something interesting on ESPN:

 

http://espn.go.com/ncf/features/spreadtheword/_/page/2

 

The opponents of the Notre Dame shift won the decades-long argument when the Football Rules Committee decided in 1927 to compel players in motion to come to a stop for one full second.

 

Is that rule no longer in effect? Because on that play, Thunder Collins was still moving when the ball was snapped, right? Same deal with Zac Taylor's walk-off-the-field fake against CU in '06....what happened with this rule, how come it got (apparently?) reversed?

You should not take ESPN's blurb about this as the actual definition/use of the rule. I would look up the actual rule if I were you. Clearly this simple definition provided by ESPN is not the way motion functions in the game today.

[huKSer]

Might be that the rules changed banning all motion, then changed again allowing in in motion. What is interesting to me is the dynamic between an innovative coach, the rest of the coaches and the ruling body of the sport. One reason football has the thickest rulebook.

 

They used to have a full house backfield and the ball was snapped to any of the four backs (like the "wild hog"). A rule had to be made requiring all linemen to face the line of scrimmage - in order for more effective snaps one coach had his center face away from the line of scrimmage (butt first, as it were) so he could better see who to give the ball to. That lasted a year.

[UGAHusker]

I'm pretty sure the rule now is that only one player can be in motion at the snap, ND was motioning the entire backfield. Technically you can still do that, but most of them would need to stop, only one could be moving.

 

This is correct.

[junior4949]

Only one player can be in motion when the ball is snapped just like what has already been posted. Along with this, the player in motion cannot be going forward as seen a lot of times in arena football. The player in motion must be either going backwards or side to side.

[HuskerNMO]

I'm pretty sure the rule now is that only one player can be in motion at the snap, ND was motioning the entire backfield. Technically you can still do that, but most of them would need to stop, only one could be moving.

 

This is correct.

 

I thought that if multiple players are in motion they must all set, then a single player can again go in motion and be in motion at the snap?