Should QB's be allowed to slide on designed run plays?

No one ever does it, but anyone can actually slide on a running play (or a reception). If you give yourself up on a slide, the ball is considered down and you're not allowed to be tackled.

 

I don't think that rule just applies to QB's. Can't any player slide to give themselves up?

 

RBs/WRs can slide. Any time a player goes the ground with no intent to move forward/get up/keep going, he is considered down.

 

That's because anybody but a QB would get their ass chewed out for giving up on a play before being tackled.

But the point remains, anybody can slide, anytime.

 

No. It's a good rule. Any player should be able to give himself up and declare himself down at any point.

 

Defensive players do it on turnovers sometimes.

 

Running backs do it when trying to stay inbounds late in games as well.

I don't see what the alternative is. If you slide and stop, some defensive player just has the right to come in and nail you? That seems like the definition of unnecessary roughness, given that you're down the instant anyone touches you.

 

How do prevent someone from sliding? What do you do if they just fall over?

 

He's saying that you eliminate the rule where the ball carrier can declare himself down at all.

 

Right - but then my question is when a player does slide, is he free game for a violent hit? Since he's already on the ground, the instant he's touched, he's officially down, so any violent hit seems like the definition of unnecessary roughness.

 

Maybe to stop people from sliding you make a rule against it. Sliding = unsportsmanlike conduct?

I think the rule is fine, and it's just meant to prevent the scenario you're talking about... where you don't have to invite contact to be down, or go through the procedure of touching someone to kill the play. etc

 

double post

 

KC, this is not one of your smartest ideas. Anyone can slide, your poll is wrong.

 

Stopping a player from sliding would be a dumb rule. Are we also going to stop players from running out of bounds to avoid contact?

 

The fact this comes after Schuab went down is dumbfounding. Having 32 backup quarterbacks in the league doesn't make for good tv.

 

Brian Westbrook sliding to keep the clock going so the Cowboys have no chance of getting the ball back, although you can tell he's not used to doing it.

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As far as the rule I don't see what the problem is. You protect the player but you don't reward them as they are down at where they start the slide.