Let me see. The ball carrier was facing his own goal line (back to B’s goal line) and still churning his legs and moving forward (toward B’s goal line), so the ball was still alive. His teammate - between the BC and B’s goal line - bear hugs the BC and falls toward B’s goal line, taking the BC off his feet and falling closer to B’s goal line than where he was when the teammate grasped him. He made more forward progress than he would have had the teammate not grasped him and fell toward B’s goal line.
Hmmm. How is that NOT assisting the BC?
A Team B player contacted the BC? I guess I’m blind. I’m just not seeing anywhere where contact by an opponent before or simultaneously with a Teammate grasping and assisting a BC in forward progress absolves the teammate of a foul for assisting the BC. Please point me to that part of the rule, or an AR to that effect.
The BC, bear-hugged by his teammate, falls and does not contact the ground because his teammate, by holding him on top of himself, prevents the BC from touching the ground, which could have made the ball dead before the ball broke the plane of the goal line. And that’s not an ‘assist?’
As careful as we should be about making a call for assisting the BC, this action fully qualified, and should have been called.
