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gridiron football Gridiron football ( ),"Gridiron football"
''Encyclopædia Britannica'' ...
, intentional grounding is a violation of the rules where "a passer...throws a forward pass without a realistic chance of completion."Official Rules of the NFL, Rule 8-3-1. This typically happens when a
quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...
about to be sacked passes the ball toward an area of the field with no eligible receiver. Without this rule, the quarterback could almost always avoid a sack by intentionally throwing an incomplete pass (which would stop the clock and return the ball to the line of scrimmage, avoiding any loss of yardage); instead, the penalty of intentional grounding effectively continues play as if the defense had succeeded in sacking the quarterback.


History

The rule against intentional grounding seems to date from 1914, two seasons after an incomplete pass ceased to result in a turnover, in the period of rule experimentation that followed legalization of the forward pass in 1906.


Elements

A ball carrier, in any location, commits intentional grounding when throwing a pass with no realistic chance of completion in order to avoid a sack; for instance, throwing the football down near himself. In particular, spiking the ball automatically results in a penalty of intentional grounding, regardless of any other factors. However, the rules explicitly allow the quarterback to spike the ball immediately after receiving it from the center to stop the clock without using a time out. Intentional grounding is called only if all of the following components are present: *Imminent pressure: The passer must face "imminent loss of yardage." There is no violation when the passer is not about to be tackled but the receiver simply fails to run the route the quarterback expects. *Location: In the NFL and
college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') may be a tertiary educational institution (sometimes awarding degrees), part of a collegiate university, an institution offering vocational education, a further education institution, or a secondary sc ...
, the quarterback must be inside the tackle box (or "pocket"), the area between the two offensive tackles on the line. If the quarterback scrambles to either side and is closer to the sideline than that side's tackle lined up, there is no penalty. The NFL added this element of the rule in 1993 in order to protect quarterbacks;
high school football High school football, also known as prep football, is gridiron football played by High school (North America), high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular high school sports, interscholastic sports in both c ...
followed suit in 2022. However, intentional grounding can be called on a quarterback (or other offensive ballcarrier) outside the pocket if the pass fails to go beyond the line of scrimmage. In the CFL, the quarterback is not subject to an intentional grounding penalty regardless of his location, so long as the pass reaches the line of scrimmage. *Target of the pass: The ball must be passed where there is no eligible receiver, such as well out of bounds. If a receiver is nearby but fails to catch the ball, or if a defender deflects the pass, there is no penalty. Conversely, if the pass is caught by an ineligible receiver, intentional grounding may still be called if there is no nearby eligible receiver (although a penalty of illegal touching would also be called, forcing the defense to decide which penalty to accept, if any).


Penalty

The penalty for intentional grounding has several components so that the offense gains no benefit from the violation: *In the NFL, the offense is penalized 10 yards from the line of scrimmage, except in specific circumstances. In college football, the ball is placed at the spot of the pass. *The offense loses the down rather than replaying the down, as is the case for most other penalties. *If the quarterback threw the pass from his team's own end zone, the penalty results in a
safety Safety is the state of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings The word 'safety' entered the English language in the 1 ...
being scored by the defense. *Like many offensive penalties, intentional grounding committed near the end of either half results in a ten-second runoff of the game clock, if the defense desires. This ensures that intentional grounding is not an effective means of clock management.


Pro Bowl

In the NFL
Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (since 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's All-star, star players. The format has changed ...
, intentional grounding is legal in order to make the game safer.


Notes


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Intentional Grounding Gridiron football penalties