Passing
In American football, the offense can throw the ball forward once on a play from behind the line of scrimmage. The forward pass is a distinguishing feature of American and Canadian football as it is strictly forbidden in rugby.
The ball can be thrown sideways or backwards without restriction in both games. In American football this is known as a lateral and is much less common than in rugby union.
In both codes, if the ball is caught by an opposition player this results in an interception and possession changes hands.
Read more about this topic: Comparison Of American Football And Rugby Union
Famous quotes containing the word passing:
“I saw the spires of Oxford
As I was passing by,
The grey spires of Oxford
Against a pearl-grey sky;
My heart was with the Oxford men
Who went abroad to die.”
—Winifred M. Letts (1887–1972)
“My falcon now is sharp and passing empty,
And till she stoop she must not be full-gorged,
For then she never looks upon her lure.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“This melancholy London—I sometimes imagine that the souls of the lost are compelled to walk through its streets perpetually. One feels them passing like a whiff of air.”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)