Rodgers' rushing TD called back

[BrokenArrow]

Can anyone explain why they called this back? Nature called and I missed the explanation. On replay, I fail to see where he was ever touched before the ball was in the endzone. Is there some obscure rule I'm missing? Or some angle that proves he was touched first?

 

[Guacamole]

he gave himself up before the goal line

 

[Mondio]

he gave himself up before the goal line

yeah, in a head first dive. It didn't end up mattering, but either it was a TD, and it was, or he was giving himself up and that was an obvious penalty half the distance to the goal and auto first down.

 

[gonzozab]

I have a hard time believing Rodgers was giving himself up. It was a clear path to the end zone and he dove head first to protect himself. I thought you only gave yourself up when you slide feet first. If it's giving yourself up, then you have to call unnecessary roughness on Winfield, don't you?

 

[Fredrik87]

I have a hard time believing Rodgers was giving himself up. It was a clear path to the end zone and he dove head first to protect himself. I thought you only gave yourself up when you slide feet first. If it's giving yourself up, then you have to call unnecessary roughness on Winfield, don't you?

I believe the rule got changed so a head first slide is also giving yourself up as for there being no penalty that I don't understand and Lafleur mentioned he didn't know either

 

[Deleted member 6794]

Can anyone explain why they called this back? Nature called and I missed the explanation. On replay, I fail to see where he was ever touched before the ball was in the endzone. Is there some obscure rule I'm missing? Or some angle that proves he was touched first?

Fredrik was right that the rule was changed before the start of the 2018 season resulting in a player that dives head first considered to have given himself up.

yeah, in a head first dive. It didn't end up mattering, but either it was a TD, and it was, or he was giving himself up and that was an obvious penalty half the distance to the goal and auto first down.

The Packers want an explanation from the league as to why the flag was picked up as well.

https://www.packersnews.com/story/s...-regarding-hard-hit-aaron-rodgers/3712278001/

 

[Mondio]

why would they change it to a headfirst dive as giving yourself up? You're just inviting them to get their heads taken off? I had zero issue with the hit on Rodgers in the game. If a guy is diving for a goal line you stop him before the goal line, or at least try. if one person dives, others are diving to try and stop him. You're just inviting it. and i'm fine with it, that's football.

But if you're going to say he's giving himself up, that's ******** still. It allows them to press the issue with no repercussions. at least before with feet first it was where they began their slide and the ball was behind and it was more obvious. Now? they tilt the game so much in the offenses favor.

I'm of the opinion that if you're going to allow a person to give themselves up, if they start a feet first slide and there is a defender inside of say a 4 yard radius coming to make a tackle when they start it? Protections are off. It needs to be obvious, it needs to be initiated early enough for defender to have a chance to recognize it and pull up. you can give yourself up, but you're going to likely have to sacrifice a yard or 2 or 3 to do it and save yourself the hit.

Headfirst should be game on, every time. It's not a give up position, it's probably the most aggressive position a runner can take, and should be met with very aggressive defender. i don't get the NFL and their rules sometimes.

 

[gopkrs]

It was obvious to me that he was not giving himself up. But there are different rules for QBs and I guess this is one of them. And as a QB, Rodgers should know the rules. New or not.

 

[Mavster]

The thing is we've all seen enough instances of QBs diving head first for the end zone without it being deemed they were giving themselves up.

I think the officiating crew had a fairly poor showing honestly. They botched the Rodgers run/late hit, and a blatant offsides that turned into a 7 point swing. And the offside was obvious to anyone with a set of eyes

 

[gopkrs]

The thing is we've all seen enough instances of QBs diving head first for the end zone without it being deemed they were giving themselves up.

I think the officiating crew had a fairly poor showing honestly. They botched the Rodgers run/late hit, and a blatant offsides that turned into a 7 point swing. And the offside was obvious to anyone with a set of eyes

And I thought there ball placement was suspect a lot.

 

[LambeauLombardi]

he gave himself up before the goal line

yeah, in a head first dive. It didn't end up mattering, but either it was a TD, and it was, or he was giving himself up and that was an obvious penalty half the distance to the goal and auto first down.

I think they removed the penalty all together which made no sense. Didn't make a difference on that drive but I may wonder if the hit on Rodgers knocked the wind out of him/some other injury?

 

[Deleted member 6794]

It was obvious to me that he was not giving himself up. But there are different rules for QBs and I guess this is one of them. And as a QB, Rodgers should know the rules. New or not.

I believe that rule is valid for all players and wasn't speficially created for quarterbacks.

 

[thequick12]

I think they removed the penalty all together which made no sense. Didn't make a difference on that drive but I may wonder if the hit on Rodgers knocked the wind out of him/some other injury?

Despite his celebration you could tell that hit and all the rest bothered him significantly. It's pretty clear he doesn't like to get hit and yeah obviously no one would but he seems to not like it more than a lot. Brady is like that too it's just we didn't hit him at all. Maybe it has something to do with them being old cuz I feel like Favre got like that too

 

[thequick12]

I believe that rule is valid for all players and wasn't speficially created for quarterbacks.

That's a pretty terrible rule. If Rodgers wanted to give himself up he would of slid feet first, not dove head first for the goaline. The rule was fine a qb can give himself up to protect himself from getting hit by sliding feet first. Pretty simple...

So by this rule if a rb or wr or te etc dives head first and trys to extend the ball out to the goaline clearly trying to reach the end zone....he's down at the point where he started his dive?

That can't be a real rule, and I've never seen it called before. If thats the rule they just took a pretty significant play out of the game. I guess there's no more diving for the pylon or the first down marker.

Granted I've seen guys dive head first forward tons of times since 2018 and I've never noticed this called?

 

[BrokenArrow]

I believe the rule got changed so a head first slide is also giving yourself up as for there being no penalty that I don't understand and Lafleur mentioned he didn't know either

That's a dumb rule change.

 

[BrokenArrow]

Despite his celebration you could tell that hit and all the rest bothered him significantly. It's pretty clear he doesn't like to get hit and yeah obviously no one would but he seems to not like it more than a lot. Brady is like that too it's just we didn't hit him at all. Maybe it has something to do with them being old cuz I feel like Favre got like that too

Yeah, getting old tends to have that effect on a man. Not much fond of falling anymore either.

 

[BrokenArrow]

The thing is we've all seen enough instances of QBs diving head first for the end zone without it being deemed they were giving themselves up.

I think the officiating crew had a fairly poor showing honestly. They botched the Rodgers run/late hit, and a blatant offsides that turned into a 7 point swing. And the offside was obvious to anyone with a set of eyes

Not to mention a hit below the knees on Rodgers and another where the defender landed on him with his full weight. Should have been two roughing penalties.

Wait... silly me. Those rules only apply to Clay Matthews. Never mind.

 

[thequick12]

“A quarterback does not have to slide feet first to be considered to be giving himself up,” the league's online rules say. “Regardless whether the slide is feet first or head first, as long as he gives himself up, he should receive the protections afforded to him as a player in a defenseless posture.”

A player who dives head first will now be judged to have given himself up, and the ball will be marked at the point where he first touched the ground

"If he dives and lands at the 1 and then slides untouched past the goal line, we're going to mark him at the 1," said Hugo Cruz, a down judge on Carl Cheffers' crew. Cruz visited the Cleveland Browns this week.

Importantly, officials won't distinguish between a player obviously giving himself up and a player who is diving to avoid contact with would-be tacklers, according to Greg Meyer, a back judge on Cheffers' crew. In fact, Baynes said that the definition of "giving yourself up" will be a head-first dive or feet-first slide.

 

[Mondio]

Diving headfirst couldn't be a more aggressive move at the goal line. It is the exact opposite of "giving up" one's self. If you want people to give up on a play, make it obvious and distinct. Feet first with nobody around seems like a pretty clear way to do it. This has to be one of the dumber rule changes they've come up with.

 

[ARPackFan]

Diving headfirst couldn't be a more aggressive move at the goal line. It is the exact opposite of "giving up" one's self. If you want people to give up on a play, make it obvious and distinct. Feet first with nobody around seems like a pretty clear way to do it. This has to be one of the dumber rule changes they've come up with.

I have always felt that once a QB passes the line of scrimmage they should be treated just like any other player. Allow a slide and leave it at that.

 

[GleefulGary]

he gave himself up before the goal line

Then there should’ve been a penalty on the hit.

It was a bad, non-logical call.

 

[swhitset]

why would they change it to a headfirst dive as giving yourself up? You're just inviting them to get their heads taken off? I had zero issue with the hit on Rodgers in the game. If a guy is diving for a goal line you stop him before the goal line, or at least try. if one person dives, others are diving to try and stop him. You're just inviting it. and i'm fine with it, that's football.

But if you're going to say he's giving himself up, that's ******** still. It allows them to press the issue with no repercussions. at least before with feet first it was where they began their slide and the ball was behind and it was more obvious. Now? they tilt the game so much in the offenses favor.

I'm of the opinion that if you're going to allow a person to give themselves up, if they start a feet first slide and there is a defender inside of say a 4 yard radius coming to make a tackle when they start it? Protections are off. It needs to be obvious, it needs to be initiated early enough for defender to have a chance to recognize it and pull up. you can give yourself up, but you're going to likely have to sacrifice a yard or 2 or 3 to do it and save yourself the hit.

Headfirst should be game on, every time. It's not a give up position, it's probably the most aggressive position a runner can take, and should be met with very aggressive defender. i don't get the NFL and their rules sometimes.

Agreed completely... and to further the point ... it was on the freaking goal line... show me an example of when a running back has crashed into the pile headfirst at the goal line and barely gets in for the TD where they have called it back because the runner “was giving himself up”.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

Here's the exact rule:

An official shall declare the ball dead and the down ended when a runner declares himself down by falling to the ground, or kneeling, and clearly making no immediate effort to advance.

I don't think it was the right call based on the phrasing of the rule.

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

It was obvious to me that he was not giving himself up. But there are different rules for QBs and I guess this is one of them. And as a QB, Rodgers should know the rules. New or not.

“A quarterback does not have to slide feet first to be considered to be giving himself up,” the league's online rules say. “Regardless whether the slide is feet first or head first, as long as he gives himself up, he should receive the protections afforded to him as a player in a defenseless posture.”

I don't like the rule, if it really is one. A player giving himself up should be consistent, no matter what position he plays.

I think they briefly mentioned the rule during the broadcast. A QB is treated differently than any other player.

All that said, I fully agree that if the Refs are going to declare Rodgers as "giving himself up short of the goal line" under that interpretation of the rule, than to be consistent, the flag should have stood for a late hit on a player who had given himself up. Had Rodgers slid feet first, the ball would have been marked at the same spot (where he began his slide) and a flag would have stood.

I doubt it matters in the outcome of the game, but I think the refs for the most part swallowed their whistles when it came to some of the hits on Rodgers during that game.

 

[El Guapo]

I agree with the majority here. Of course, the NFL rarely admits to a mistake and will just continue on like a parade horse with blinders on.