Thanks to longtime reader Jeff Cooper for pointing me to another clarification of the rules regarding Darrell Jackson's goal line catch in the Super Bowl. As we've discussed over the past few days, a whole lot of people couldn't understand why Jackson was ruled out of bounds when we've all seen a quote from a John Clayton column that seemed to make it clear that Jackson should have been ruled in bounds:
A player will be ruled in bounds if he touches the pylon at the goal line before going out of bounds. For example, a pass would be considered complete if one foot touches the pylon and the other foot is in bounds.
Which would seem to make it clear that Jackson should have been ruled to have scored a touchdown. However, Jeff (again, via Jim Henley) points me to the "Ask The Official" feature at Inside Football, where the question was asked and answered on Monday. Just scroll down to February 7, and you'll find...
I am not sure what was in the old "John Clayton article" but the rule differs whether it is a player who has obtained possession of the ball before touching the pylon or one that has not yet gotten his two feet down inbounds with the ball in his possession prior to touching the pylon. In the former case, it is a TD while in the latter, it is an incomplete pass. The overriding rule is the need to get both feet down inbounds before hitting the pylon. From everything that I have been able to learn from NFL officials, it foot is required to touch in bounds.
This seems pretty definitive, though not from an official NFL source. In any case, I submitted the same question to ex-ref Jerry Markbreit at Ask The Referee, and I'll let you know if I hear anything.
Even in a semi-drunken state, I evidently could be a capable NFL referee. (Re: my identical answer in your comments Monday)
Wow–I actually stumbled onto the correct conclusion when we were discussing this on the show.
That’s so….rare.