Donald Hall asks the following question: procedural question:

Q: “Ray………….Cowboys are in a 3 wide, Packers counter with a nickle and dial up a blitz…………roll of 25 on Staubach’s card is a 6…..does the up 2 from the 3 wide cancel the original down 2 from the blitz……….is final number a 6 or a 4.”

A: Donald . . . this is really an APBA Game Playing Question, not a scoring or rules concern, and our fearless leader, Greg, might be better suited to answer it . . . but, my understanding is that the two calls cancel each other out, and you would read the final number on Staubach’s card as a “6” . . .

We received this question:

“Ray, 40 yard punt by Latourette returned 67 yards by Bullet Bob for the TD…………….does Latourette get a net of 0 on his punt?”

No. Net Punting is not an individual statistic . . . it is a team statistic. And, as such, the entire return is taken into account, and this is actually a -27 yard net punt for the kicking team.

Q –  “What was the penalty for Defensive Pass Interference in 1968?  I’m having a semi old brain freeze and I’m thinking it was 15 yards and automatic 1st down and not spot of infraction foul?  (submitted by Donald Hall)

A – To the best of my knowledge the Defensive Pass Interference has always been a spot of foul penalty.  The NFL’s rules committee met back in 2018 and briefly considered changing it to the 15 yard penalty from the line-of-scrimmage that is currently used in college, but, ultimately kept it the same.  The NFL tends to create and support rules that reward passing.  And, they thought changing the penalty would benefit the defense disproportionally.  Consider, as well, the “Illegal Contact” rule that was put in place in 1977, significantly reducing a defender’s ability to harass a receiver, because he can now only make physical contact within five yards of the line of scrimmage.  Apparently, the powers-that-be in the NFL don’t want to go back to the “three yards and a cloud of dust” mentality!

Mark Zarb asks:  “Hi Ray!!! Just want to double check on the kick off out of bounds penalty. Latest statisticians guide I saw says “no penalty”, wondering if this was changed recently.”

A.  Mark, you are absolutely correct.  Here is the rule:

“When a kickoff goes out of bounds and the ball is awarded to the receiving team, no penalty or penalty yardage is recorded.  The receiving team may elect to take possession of the ball 25 yards from the spot of the kick or at the out-of-bounds spot.  Record an ‘out-of-bounds kickoff’ for the kicker.”

Q –  Kickoff is caught 4 yards deep in the end-zone and is returned 28 yards to the 24. However, there is a flag on the play. It is a 10-yard penalty on the return.

The rules say to mark it off 15 yards ahead of where it was caught, so that would be the 11 yard line. “Half the distance to the goal” would put it at the 5 yard line.

How many Kick Return yards does the returner get credit for and why?

A – The returner gets credited for return yardage up to the point of the infraction.  So, in this case it would be a 15 yard return because the penalty occurred at the 11 yard line.  Then, the ball would be put in play at the 5½ yard line (I would use the six yard line in APBA – I always give the marginal benefit to the team with their back to the goal line).

Q – If it’s not a penalty, why does the Ref throw a flag on a kick out of bounds? 

It is a penalty . . . . it is just not a “distance” penalty, so no yardage is actually calculated for penalty purposes.  But the kicking team is assessed one penalty for no yards.

Ray, if a quarterback is sacked in his own end zone is the yardage lost from the line of scrimmage to the goal line OR from where he is brought down? For example, QB sacked for 9 yard loss from his own 1 yard line: 1 yard sack OR 9yard sack?

Q – This one throws me regularly. Completed pass, with a penalty that reads Defense Unsportsmanlike Conduct – 15 yards from line. Should that be enforced AFTER the completion?

A – OK, unless this completion was for zero or negative yardage, the penalty is enforced from the end of the play – where the completion ended up.  If, however, the completion had been for, say, -3 yards on a screen pass attempt, then the penalty would be assessed from the original line of scrimmage.

And, keep in mind, if the original pass resulted in a first down, the offensive team would be credited with a passing first down AND a penalty first down because of the Unsportsmanlike Conduct call!

Q –  RP 14:2

Kickoff returner is tackled by someone not on the field – awarded TD – does the entire return yardage get credited to the returner?

A – You can never be awarded a touchdown via penalty.  So, if in the opinion of the officials, the returner would have scored if not for the illegal substitution and subsequent tackle, and he is awarded a touchdown, he is credited with all the return yardage . . . and the player coming off the bench would most likely be disqualified for a flagrant and dangerous action.