I’ve been watching the SEC championship game today between Florida and Alabama. After nearly a full season of college football, and a specific play I just watched in this game, I realize that I’m really not happy with the state of the late hit out-of-bounds rule.
The specific play I just saw involveda Florida ball carrier who dodged a tackle, broke out toward the sideline, dodged another tackle and “tightrope walked” along the sideline to try and get a few more yards. An Alabama defender came in to attempt to knock the Florida ball carrier out of bounds, however the Florida player had already stepped out of bounds just a few steps earlier. The referee did not pull out the yellow flag on the play, thankfully, however the comentators felt that it was necessary to discuss whether or not the play should have been a penalty.
Clearly, this play was called correctly. However, I’m dismayed that there is the potential for a defensive player to even have a doubt about whether to come in a knock the player out of bounds when they are so close to the sideline. Football is a physical sport, and while I understand that we need to protect the player after they are out of bounds, I think we also need to protect the integrity of the game in that players should be allowed to play the game, without worrying about whether a penalty will be called when they hit a player to try to knock them out of bounds. If the offensive player is still within a yard of the sideline, I think the offensive player should still have a reasonable expectation of getting hit, especially given that an offensive player may be trying to “tightrope walk” the sideline to get an extra yard or two.
