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Hurdling?

NND Sports Fan

VaPreps Honorable Mention
Aug 1, 2002
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This is how I saw this 2 pt conversion play Friday night:
Team A's QB takes direct snap and goes straight ahead into a mass of humanity. Once there he leaves his feet and reaches the ball forward beyond the goal line. The white hat flagged him for hurdling. From what I saw he never leaped over the pile just went into the air to extend the ball past the goal line. Your thoughts?
 
This is how I saw this 2 pt conversion play Friday night:
Team A's QB takes direct snap and goes straight ahead into a mass of humanity. Once there he leaves his feet and reaches the ball forward beyond the goal line. The white hat flagged him for hurdling. From what I saw he never leaped over the pile just went into the air to extend the ball past the goal line. Your thoughts?

Did he dive head first or jump feet first? And may I ask what game this was?
 
I hope you can find video of this. Maybe a local TV station had a camera there and put this in their highlights? A hudl vid is probably unattainable, but I suppose there's a chance. Based on the description, there's a tiny chance that there was a hurdle, but there are two much bigger possibilities -- the white hat saw something you didn't, or the white hat didn't understand the hurdling rule.
 
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From my vantage point, he didn't go feet first into the pile. He advanced to the pile and had both feet planted on the ground when he jumped forward with is arms extended while holding the football between his two hands. When he came down did his feet land on a defender, you may ask? I couldn't tell because of the pile up that ensued. It certainly wasn't Walter Payton kind of leap where he cleared the pile while in the air.
 
From my vantage point, he didn't go feet first into the pile. He advanced to the pile and had both feet planted on the ground when he jumped forward with is arms extended while holding the football between his two hands. When he came down did his feet land on a defender, you may ask? I couldn't tell because of the pile up that ensued. It certainly wasn't Walter Payton kind of leap where he cleared the pile while in the air.

I’m trying to look for a video clip online, as WH mentioned. Who were the 2 teams?
 
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Essex at Colonial beach. Near end of 3rd quarter after the game's final TD

No luck on finding a video, unless you know of where to find one. Here’s the associated rule.

NFHS 2-22: “Hurdling is an attempt by a player to jump (hurdle) with one or both feet or knees foremost over an opponent who is contacting the ground with no part of his body except one or both feet.”

Layman’s terms: the player who is hurdling must do so with one or both feet/knees out in front of his body, and the player being hurdled must only have one or both feet on the ground.

Pretty much it’s saying that diving head first is not hurdling even if it’s over another player, but leaping over a player with leg(s) outstretched is. Imagine diving into the end zone vs. the action a track runner does to jump over a hurdle.
 
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the only thing that I can say regarding that rule and this play is there probably was defenders on the ground in that pile but he certainly didn't appear to go airborne with his feet (or foot) leading the way
 
the only thing that I can say regarding that rule and this play is there probably was defenders on the ground in that pile but he certainly didn't appear to go airborne with his feet (or foot) leading the way

Remember, the player being hurdled must only have one or both feet on the ground, i.e. a defender with their entire body on the ground negates the hurdling foul. Even just a hand on the ground will negate the hurdling foul.
 
This is not the play but this is what I consider to be hurdling. And he play I described is nothing at all like this

59e1db1d57075.image.jpg
 
This is not the play but this is what I consider to be hurdling. And he play I described is nothing at all like this

59e1db1d57075.image.jpg

Identifying the elements of hurdling: the runner is leading with his knee/foot over the player, and the defender only has his 2 feet on the ground (assuming his left hand is in the air). I would agree this is a hurdle, based on this still image.

As a general note, I do not usually like to make a determination based on one snapshot, as officials need to see the entire play (i.e., in motion). But, I believe the action in this picture does indicate a foul.
 
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