Rule 7-4-1(e) states that the runner is considered down by contact when he is "contacted by a defensive player and he touches the ground with any part of his body other than his hands or feet..."
It says nothing about "as a result of contact".
125 posted on 02/06/2006 10:56:05 AM PST by Hatteras
Read the rest of the rule (the part left out by the elipses:
e) when a runner is contacted by a defensive player and he touches the ground with any part of his body except his hands or feet, ball shall be declared dead immediately. The contact by the defense player must be the cause of the runner going down.
128 posted on 02/06/2006 11:00:36 AM PST by kevkrom
("...no one has ever successfully waged a war against stupidity" - Orson Scott Card)