American Football Plays - Order of A Play

Order of A Play

A play begins in one of two ways:

• A play from scrimmage begins when the ball is delivered from the enter to a back, usually the quarterback.
• A free kick (either a kick-off or a "free kick after safety") occurs. The play begins when the ball touches the body of a member of the returning team

Once the play begins, it will continue until one of the following events happens:

• The ball carrier is down, usually defined as when any body part besides the hands and feet touches the ground.
• The ball carrier's forward progress is stopped to the point where a stalemate occurs and it is clear that the ball cannot be advanced any farther, nor is he easily going down as defined above.
• The ball carrier steps out of bounds.
• A forward pass touches the ground before it is caught (an incomplete pass). The ball touching the ground in other situations (called a fumble) does NOT end the play. In the case of a fumble, the play still continues until one of the above conditions is met.

When the play ends, the ball is set for the next play. For the first three instances above, the ball is set at the point of its maximum forward progress. That means that if a runner is driven back in the process of a tackle OR is ruled down by lack of forward progress, the ball is placed as close to his opponent's goal line as he had gotten before being driven back. If he runs backwards of his own volition, the ball is marked where he goes down. In the case of an incomplete pass, the ball is placed at the previous line of scrimmage.

Play then resumes as described above.