A slide tackle in American Football

[coachsteve]

I saw this in a playoff game this weekend.  A receiver catches a deep pass and heads to the end zone.  As he crosses the goal line, the DB "slide tackles" (yes, the soccer tackle) him from behind.  The official on the play throws a flag and signaled for the kid to leave the field.  In the stands we assumed he had been ejected.  Then the Referee waves the flag off and the kid comes back on the for the try.

I know tripping is legal under federation rules, but does that include a slide tackle?  As I type this, it sounds okay, but it sure looked like something that should not have been allowed.

[bkdow]

Unless it is something that would arise to the level of flagrant, tripping the ball carrier is legal.

[Eastshire]

I saw this in a playoff game this weekend.  A receiver catches a deep pass and heads to the end zone.  As he crosses the goal line, the DB "slide tackles" (yes, the soccer tackle) him from behind.  The official on the play throws a flag and signaled for the kid to leave the field.  In the stands we assumed he had been ejected.  Then the Referee waves the flag off and the kid comes back on the for the try.

I know tripping is legal under federation rules, but does that include a slide tackle?  As I type this, it sounds okay, but it sure looked like something that should not have been allowed.

Are you saying he contacted the runner in the achilles area with the bottom of his cleats? That's generally what a soccer referee would mean. If so, that's potentially very dangerous and almost always a send off in soccer and I would think at least UNR in football (you lot let the players try to injury each other far more than we do  ). OTOH, if he got around and made the contact on the side of the leg or hooked the leg making contact on the front of the runner's leg, that seems like it would be legal.

[coachsteve]

The defender was directly behind the runner, but I couldn't see where he attacked his ankles.  It was bad enough the linesman appeared to eject the kid, but I guess they decided it was legal.  Legal or not, it was still a bush play on the kids part.  But there are no penalties for that kind of stuff.

[Atlanta Blue]

The defender was directly behind the runner, but I couldn't see where he attacked his ankles.  It was bad enough the linesman appeared to eject the kid, but I guess they decided it was legal.  Legal or not, it was still a bush play on the kids part.  But there are no penalties for that kind of stuff.

If he did it clearly after the runner was in the end zone, then it's a late hit, dead ball personal foul.  If the runner was still near the goal line, there's nothing bush about it.  You are allowed to trip runners, which includes sliding into their feet.

[AlUpstateNY]

Sounds like the covering official observed the action, presuming he gave thought to all the "coulda, wouldas", relied on his understanding of ALL the appropriate and relevant rules and made a split second decision.  Nothing unusual, and "the beat goes on".

[theunofficialofficial]

Sounds to me like there was a Soccer referee working a football game and mixed the two books up.