Offside Pass

Article 1 – Definition

An offside pass is made when the ball is directed in any manner other than being kicked, in the direction of the opponent's dead line.

Article 2 – Illegal Recovery

A Team making an offside pass shall not be permitted to advance the ball or retain possession beyond the point of origin of the pass.

Article 3 – General Occurrence of Offside Pass

An offside pass generally occurs in the following situations:

• 1. on a scrimmage play, a Team A player makes an offside pass after he/she has crossed the line of scrimmage.
• 2. after a change of possession (e.g. punt runback, fumble recovery, intercepted pass) a player makes an offside pass.
• 3. in attempting to complete a forward pass, a Team A eligible receiver tips, deflects, knocks, or bats the ball in an offside direction where it is caught by a Team A ineligible receiver.

Article 4 – Legal Situations

An offside pass does NOT occur in the following situations:

• 1. on a scrimmage play, before the ball has crossed the line of scrimmage, a Team A player throws an offside pass – rule as a forward pass.
• 2. in attempting to complete a forward pass, Team A eligible receiver tips, deflects, knocks, or bats the ball in an offside direction, where it is caught by another Team A eligible receiver.
• 3. in attempting to intercept a forward pass, a Team B player tips, deflects, knocks or bats the ball in an offside direction where it is caught by another Team B player.
• 4. on a scrimmage play, Team A passer crosses the line of scrimmage and throws what is obviously intended to be a forward pass, in the opinion of the Referee; this shall be ruled as an illegal forward pass.

• 5. on a ball fumbled forward by a ball carrier, or a player attempting to catch a kicked ball. or by a player attempting to intercept a lateral pass.
• 6. on a kick which is blocked

Article 5 – Fumbled to Out of Bounds

When the ball is fumbled forward from the field of play directly to out-of-bounds, the ball shall be scrimmaged at the point of origin of the fumble and downs continue, unless the required distance is gained at that point. This applies whether the out-of-bounds spot is in the field of play, or the end zone.

Article 6 – Fumbled into End Zone

A ball fumbled forward by Team A into the Team B end zone, which is recovered by Team B, shall be ruled as an intercepted forward pass (Rule 6, Section 4, Article 11 (a) (Forward Pass)).

Article 7 – Thrown Forward

A ball which is thrown in an offside direction may not be recovered legally by the throwing team, unless it meets the requirements of a Forward Pass (Rule 6, Section 4, Article 1 (Forward Pass)). The ball may be recovered legally by the defending team.

Article 8 – Offside Pass from the End Zone

• 1. If Team A makes an offside pass in its own end zone, and retains possession, Team B shall be awarded 2 points or option.
• 2. If Team B makes an offside pass in its own end zone and retains possession:
• a) After receiving a Team A kick, Team A shall be awarded 1 point or option.
• b) While intercepting or after intercepting a Team A forward pass, Team B shall scrimmage at any point on or between the hash marks on its own 20 yard (20 metre) line, or at PBD (Team A option). No score.
• 3. If the ball is fumbled by Team A from the end zone to out of bounds in the field of play without touching an opponent:
  • 1.2D Team B has choice of 2 options:
    • 1. 2 points for safety touch.
    • 2. Allow A to scrimmage on the hash mark at the out of bounds spot, downs continue.
  • 3D Team B has the choice of 2 options:
    • 1. 2 points for safety touch.
    • 2. 1st Down for B on the hash mark at the out of bounds spot.

Note: A fumble from the end zone to out of bounds in the field of play, when the ball does not touch an opponent, is an offside pass in the end zone, since the point of termination is closer to the opponent's dead line than the point of the pass.