87:, or to discard the results of the game from the unfair act onward and resume play from immediately before that point. In the last case, the game can only be resumed in progress within 48 hours of the unfair act or other disaster; otherwise, the game must be replayed from the beginning. To date, no commissioner has ever used his authority to alter a game result.
66:. For the former, the general rule is that "palpably unfair" acts interfere illegally with the course of play, be it from player or non-player action, and the compensation must be, in the judgment of the officials, "equitable" to what the result of the play would have been without the act happening. In the event of an ongoing threat, such as a
107:
fumbled the ball, resulting in Harry
Lawrence Eielson, of Great Lakes, picking up the ball and running it most of the way back down the field. However, before Eielson could cross the goal line, Saunders, a substitute for Navy, leapt up off the bench and tackled him, later claiming "an impulse seized
112:
directed
Saunders to make the tackle). The referees reacted by awarding Great Lakes a touchdown, and placed the ball for the goal kick (which at that time was determined in a rugby-styled manner based on where the runner crossed the goal line) in the center of the goal posts, allowing Great Lakes to
254:
in overtime. A lawsuit from Saints fans sought to force the league to use its unfair act clause and replay at least a portion of the game. The league opposed this on financial grounds, claiming it would have to postpone the Super Bowl to do so, and ultimately the court ruled in the league's favor,
191:
The NFL's rule on deliberate fouls is open-ended but covers only "successive or repeated fouls to prevent a score." It would only be a palpably unfair act for the defense to commit deliberate fouls, preferring the certainty of a small penalty over the uncertainty of a score attempt, if the defense
51:, however, also includes the general rule that all acts are legal unless otherwise explicitly stated; thus, the unfair act rule is only invoked in cases when specific rules have clearly been broken, but the penalty for the foul does not cancel the advantage gained by committing the foul.
113:
make an easy goal kick to win the game. Though the rules of the time did not allow for the awarding of points in this manner, "Every one admits that Great Lakes had to be awarded a touchdown," with the referee acting "upon general principles, rather than a specific rule".
278:
declined) and ran out the clock without being penalized. This was subsequently repeated by the
Tennessee Titans that same season in their wild card playoff win over the New England Patriots. Former New England Patriot player and Tennessee Titan head coach,
350:
139:, for which the penalty then was 5 yards. However, the officials declared a palpably unfair act and credited the touchdown anyway. Modern college and NFL officials are explicitly permitted to award a touchdown under such circumstances.
208:, conceding 2 points of their 7-point lead. They committed numerous holding fouls on the same play to ensure that they could exhaust the final 11 seconds of the game. This was not a palpably unfair act because it did not recur.
31:
that can be called when a player or team commits a flagrant and obviously illegal act that has a major impact on the game, and from which, if additional penalties were not enforced, the offending team would gain an advantage.
397:
74:
can levy fines, require the offending team to surrender draft picks, and suspend players. Under Rule 17 of the NFL rulebook, the commissioner also has the authority to overturn a game result (that is, order a
235:
that it constituted an unfair act and thus could be overturned. Rozelle, although he agreed the act was unfair and could in theory be punished, refused on principle to ever overturn a game result.
341:
600:
200:
to settle for a short field goal. The NFL instructed its officials that this would be a palpably unfair act subject to a 15-yard penalty if repeated. On
November 27, 2016, the
401:
486:
is within Rule 12, Section 3 ("Unsportsmanlike
Conduct"). Article 2 addresses "successive or repeated fouls" and Article 3 addresses unfairly interfering with play.
70:
in the stands, the officials can also suspend the game until the situation is resolved. The extraordinarily unfair act rule is for acts so extraordinary that the
665:
314:, a now-discouraged deliberate-fouling strategy in basketball that purposely targeted poor free throw shooters regardless of whether they had the ball or not
48:
497:
100:
431:
610:
35:
All of the major
American football codes include some form of unfair act rule. In all cases, the definition is deliberately vague, giving the
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The high school rulebook specifies one situation to be penalized as an unfair act: when the defensive team makes repeated fouls near its own
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made a helmet-to-helmet hit that constituted pass interference. The officials called neither foul, and the Rams ultimately beat the
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693:
136:
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for such acts. At the high school level, officials are free to assess any penalty they see fit, up to and including
724:
205:
921:
572:
891:
132:
71:
305:
95:
An early example of an unfair act (though such a rule was not yet codified) occurred on
November 23, 1918, when
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861:
779:
143:
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856:
121:
36:
283:, had his team commit various penalties to run 50 seconds off the clock in the final quarter of the game.
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40:
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239:
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did so again after an official's warning. On
November 6, 2016, near the end of the first half, the
117:
55:
926:
784:
267:
166:
146:, for which the regular penalty (advancing the ball half the distance to the goal) is trivial.
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573:"NFL opposes Rams-Saints do-over, saying it could cost league more than $ 100M: court filing"
243:
911:
729:
271:
216:
8:
906:
901:
871:
794:
483:
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on
December 12, 1982, had only one score, a field goal during a snowstorm by the hosting
193:
183:, that Vinovich had acted outside the bounds of the NFL rulebook when making the threat.
176:
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197:
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292:
28:
20:
247:
201:
171:
270:. In the first test of the rule, on October 21, 2019, it went unenforced, as the
263:
84:
76:
44:
373:"NFL insider reveals options league is considering for Bengals-Bills resumption"
398:"Commissioner has authority to take action over Rams-Saints outcome, in theory"
266:, deliberately committing fouls to manipulate the game clock was classified as
256:
224:
180:
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argued, based on a precedent following a similar situation in 1985 between the
158:
643:
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719:
714:
275:
212:
162:
150:
342:"15 yards for snowballs? Turns out, that's not covered in the NFL rule book"
688:
298:
232:
125:
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him and that made him forget everything" (though some claimed Navy's coach
259:
to sue over rules enforcement. Robey-Coleman was later fined for the hit.
311:
280:
220:
157:
bombarded the field with snowballs during a
December 17 game against the
104:
634:"Bill Belichick Used a Blowout Over the Jets to Expose a Weird Loophole"
228:
149:
In 2022, the NFL threatened to use the unfair act clause against the
109:
577:
219:. Before the score, the grounds crew plowed a special path for the
80:
223:
to make the kick easier. The game officials allowed this act, but
605:
135:
entered the field and tackled Moegle. This could have been ruled
498:"How the NFL prevents teams from using penalties to win games"
274:
committed repeated dead-ball penalties (which their opponent
67:
542:"Ravens' Take Safety Play Wasn't a 'Palpably Unfair Act'"
601:"NFL passes no leaping rule, approves ban for head hits"
561:"NFL Top 10: Bad Weather Games", produced by NFL Network
103:
team. With Navy leading 6-0, the Midshipmen's captain
49:
National Federation of State High School Associations
39:
great latitude in defining such an act and enforcing
340:
334:
332:
330:
939:
295:, the equivalent foul in other codes of football
673:
327:
478:
476:
196:deliberately held pass receivers, forcing the
186:
128:broke free for an apparent touchdown run, but
659:
539:
495:
631:
517:
169:penalty if the snowball throwing continued,
83:for the wronged team), order the game to be
473:
666:
652:
520:"NFL Acts Against 49ers' Holding Strategy"
455:"Rice beats Alabama 28–6, Moegle is Star"
452:
338:
940:
489:
395:
370:
120:featured a notorious use of the rule.
647:
598:
570:
58:defines two types of unfair acts, a
571:Dedaj, Paulina (January 25, 2019).
434:from the original on 10 August 2022
301:, a similar situation in ice hockey
13:
339:Skurski, Jay (December 19, 2022).
14:
959:
396:Florio, Mike (January 21, 2019).
165:arbitrarily threatened a 15-yard
750:Illegal touching of a free kick
625:
599:Patra, Kevin (March 28, 2017).
592:
564:
555:
453:Watkins, Ed (January 2, 1954).
353:from the original on 2022-12-20
533:
511:
446:
416:
389:
364:
1:
780:Ineligible receiver downfield
320:
540:Brian Tinsman (2016-11-27).
496:Kevin Seifert (2016-10-18).
79:to the offending team and a
7:
948:Gridiron football penalties
632:Dan Gartland (2019-10-22).
518:Matt Maiocco (2016-11-15).
442:– via newspapers.com.
371:Wilson, Josh (2023-01-03).
286:
238:On a key drive late in the
187:Deliberate fouls in the NFL
90:
10:
964:
867:Helmet-to-helmet collision
240:2018 NFC Championship Game
231:protested to Commissioner
64:extraordinarily unfair act
877:Illegal hands to the face
839:
803:
707:
684:
847:Blocking below the waist
469:– via Google News.
424:"Unusual Play Explained"
255:ruling that fans had no
118:1954 Cotton Bowl Classic
56:National Football League
927:Unsportsmanlike conduct
785:Neutral zone infraction
268:unsportsmanlike conduct
167:unsportsmanlike conduct
482:The definition in the
304:Committing deliberate
16:American football foul
831:Intentional grounding
760:Illegal participation
636:. Sports Illustrated.
400:. MSN. Archived from
244:Nickell Robey-Coleman
137:illegal participation
912:Roughing the snapper
882:Illegal forward kick
826:Illegal use of hands
770:Illegal substitution
745:Illegal forward pass
694:Equipment violations
272:New England Patriots
217:New England Patriots
907:Roughing the passer
902:Roughing the kicker
872:Horse-collar tackle
795:Sideline infraction
459:The Tuscaloosa News
430:. 1 December 1918.
194:San Francisco 49ers
177:San Francisco 49ers
99:faced the powerful
60:palpably unfair act
816:Helping the runner
252:New Orleans Saints
198:New Orleans Saints
161:. Because referee
935:
934:
887:Pass interference
840:15-yard penalties
811:Block in the back
804:10-yard penalties
740:Illegal formation
675:Gridiron football
613:on March 28, 2017
484:2016 NFL Rulebook
293:Professional foul
262:Beginning in the
47:of the game. The
21:American football
955:
775:Illegal touching
708:5-yard penalties
668:
661:
654:
645:
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638:
637:
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623:
622:
620:
618:
609:. Archived from
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248:Los Angeles Rams
202:Baltimore Ravens
172:The Buffalo News
155:Highmark Stadium
72:NFL Commissioner
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735:Illegal contact
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404:on Jan 22, 2019
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264:2017 NFL season
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122:Rice University
101:Great Lakes NTS
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755:Illegal motion
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428:New York Times
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317:
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308:in basketball
306:personal fouls
302:
296:
288:
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225:Miami Dolphins
188:
185:
181:Denver Broncos
159:Miami Dolphins
92:
89:
85:fully replayed
15:
9:
6:
4:
3:
2:
960:
949:
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943:
928:
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920:
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897:Personal foul
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765:Illegal shift
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715:Delay of game
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276:New York Jets
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213:Snowplow Game
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163:Bill Vinovich
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153:when fans at
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26:
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725:Encroachment
698:
689:Penalty flag
627:
615:. Retrieved
611:the original
604:
594:
582:. Retrieved
576:
566:
557:
546:. Retrieved
535:
524:. Retrieved
513:
502:. Retrieved
491:
463:. Retrieved
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436:. Retrieved
427:
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406:. Retrieved
402:the original
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380:. Retrieved
376:
366:
355:. Retrieved
347:Buffalo News
346:
299:Awarded goal
261:
237:
233:Pete Rozelle
210:
190:
170:
148:
141:
126:Dicky Moegle
115:
94:
81:walkover win
77:forfeit loss
63:
59:
53:
34:
24:
18:
730:False start
584:January 26,
461:. p. 1
408:January 21,
312:Hack-a-Shaq
281:Mike Vrabel
221:placekicker
133:Tommy Lewis
105:Bill Ingram
852:Chop block
720:Time count
699:Unfair act
548:2017-01-06
526:2017-01-06
504:2017-01-06
465:January 3,
382:2023-01-03
357:2022-12-20
321:References
45:forfeiture
25:unfair act
862:Face mask
678:penalties
617:March 28,
438:10 August
229:Don Shula
144:goal line
130:Alabama's
110:Gil Dobie
41:penalties
37:officials
942:Category
922:Tripping
917:Spearing
857:Clipping
578:Fox News
432:Archived
377:FanSided
351:Archived
287:See also
257:standing
91:Examples
892:Leaping
821:Holding
790:Offside
606:NFL.com
246:of the
204:took a
62:and an
500:. ESPN
227:coach
206:safety
544:. CBS
522:. NBC
27:is a
23:, an
619:2017
586:2019
467:2011
440:2022
410:2019
211:The
179:and
116:The
97:Navy
68:riot
54:The
29:foul
124:'s
19:In
944::
603:.
575:.
475:^
457:.
426:.
375:.
349:.
345:.
329:^
242:,
667:e
660:t
653:v
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588:.
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360:.
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