The groundhog saw his shadow yesterday...the new rules are here today....

[sj]

Also on this, if the pass is intercepted by a B player in the B end zone who then fumbles from the end zone, where it goes forward into the field of play, and goes out of bounds, then the ball would be returned to the spot of the fumble and it would be a touchback.

[bama_stripes]

I agree with ncwingman that a forward fumble OOB is rare — I think I’ve seen it once in the last three years.  A fumble going forward from the EZ and OOB in the field of play is certainly even more rare.  I’ve never had that happen in one of my games.

Ralph, are you able to post the proposals that actually came up for a vote and didn’t pass as you have in the past?

[ElvisLives]

I agree with ncwingman that a forward fumble OOB is rare — I think I’ve seen it once in the last three years.  A fumble going forward from the EZ and OOB in the field of play is certainly even more rare.  I’ve never had that happen in one of my games.

No, not rare at all. We see it in our HS games probably a half-dozen times per year, and I see it in TV (NCAA) games about as many times. When I see it on TV games, I am verbalizing, “Bring it back to the spot of the fumble!” And they always do. As R, I don’t, personally, see the ball go OB, but my crew gets on the O2O and lets me know, and we bring it back to the spot of the fumble, and I start the game clock when it is spotted (with a short sound of my whistle  ).

Yeah, fumble from the EZ OOB in the field of play - rare. Fumble from the EZ OOB in the field of play WITH momentum - rarest of rare. Never had either of those.

[Ralph Damren]

I agree with ncwingman that a forward fumble OOB is rare — I think I’ve seen it once in the last three years.  A fumble going forward from the EZ and OOB in the field of play is certainly even more rare.  I’ve never had that happen in one of my games.

Ralph, are you able to post the proposals that actually came up for a vote and didn’t pass as you have in the past?

There were two that made it to the floor but didn't pass. They were:

7-2-5d  "At the snap,if team A is in SKF, any team B player on the line of scrimmage must be aligmned completely outside the frame of the body of the the snapper,"  Failed 9-41, my biggest grape was keeping B player  over snapper to leap in attempt to block FG.

7-5-2e  "A forward pass thrown from behind the neutral zone after the ball has been beyond the neutral zone." =IFP. Failed 19-31, my biggest gripe was it could make a flea-flicker illegal.

Rule 2 & 7 for six-player also passed. It clarifies that as long as there is a change of possession from the snap receiver to another player of , the ball can be advanced beyond the LOS. I sat next to a guy from a 6-player state. He voted yes, I voted yes ,too.  .  It passed 50-0.

[ncwingman]

I agree with ncwingman that a forward fumble OOB is rare — I think I’ve seen it once in the last three years.  A fumble going forward from the EZ and OOB in the field of play is certainly even more rare.  I’ve never had that happen in one of my games.

Ralph, are you able to post the proposals that actually came up for a vote and didn’t pass as you have in the past?

It's probably less rare than we think, but rare that it has a significant impact. Last year, I had a play where a player managed to fumble forward OOB for a first down. I think that was the first time I'd seen that happen, but it was particularly notable because he fumbled it beyond the LTG. Every other time I can think of it potentially happening, it's either a very small difference gaining a yard or so (next play is 3rd and 6 instead of 3rd and 7) or it's in the middle of a muff scrum and ends up out of bounds before anybody gains possession, and you're more focused on somebody possessing the ball rather than keeping track of how far the ball went while loose (especially since, until now, that didn't matter).

The next Coach Complaint I'm expecting is to enforce this like the Holy Roller -- returning the ball to the spot of the fumble when recovered by A in advance of the fumble. That happens quite a bit, but I've never seen that done intentionally. However, since it's what they do on TV, I'd give it another two years.

[ElvisLives]

Again, maybe rare, but they happen. Just last season, I had a fumble recovered not only beyond the spot of the fumble, but by a player other than the fumbler, and during a Try. My wing didn’t really recognize what was happening, and allowed the BC to advance the ball into the end zone, and signaled TD. I had to immediately, and emphatically, rule NO SCORE. No field mic, or even radios. I got my wings to come in, reviewed the play and the ruling, and the light bulb went off in their heads, and were, then, to explain the ruling to their coaches.
They happen, and we must be prepared to make the proper ruling for our rule set.

[Snapper]

Again, maybe rare, but they happen. Just last season, I had a fumble recovered not only beyond the spot of the fumble, but by a player other than the fumbler, and during a Try. My wing didn’t really recognize what was happening, and allowed the BC to advance the ball into the end zone, and signaled TD. I had to immediately, and emphatically, rule NO SCORE. No field mic, or even radios. I got my wings to come in, reviewed the play and the ruling, and the light bulb went off in their heads, and were, then, to explain the ruling to their coaches.
They happen, and we must be prepared to make the proper ruling for our rule set.

Agreed, rare.  And real good job getting it.

But let's be careful not to confuse anyone.  The 4th down fumble rule (and the fumble during a Try rule) are NCAA, and as I understand it, the NFHS did not enact that. 

They simply passed the fumble forward oob rule.  And that's real easy to officiate.  Just get a bag down as best you can.  And then remember to wind the clock back up afterwards.  If you have a field mic, be sure to announce what's going on with the fumble.  People will get it because they're used to seeing it on Saturday.

[SCHSref]

Again, maybe rare, but they happen. Just last season, I had a fumble recovered not only beyond the spot of the fumble, but by a player other than the fumbler, and during a Try. My wing didn’t really recognize what was happening, and allowed the BC to advance the ball into the end zone, and signaled TD. I had to immediately, and emphatically, rule NO SCORE. No field mic, or even radios. I got my wings to come in, reviewed the play and the ruling, and the light bulb went off in their heads, and were, then, to explain the ruling to their coaches.
They happen, and we must be prepared to make the proper ruling for our rule set.

Was this during a HS game?

[MAFBRef]

Texas uses modified NCAA Rules in high school.