In gridiron football, the neutral zone is an area in which no member of either team may be, other than the person holding the ball. The neutral zone only exists in dead ball situations (i.e. when play is not ongoing).
In American football, the neutral zone can be described as the length of the football from one tip to the other when it is spotted (i.e. placed on a certain spot) on the field prior to the snap of the ball during a scrimmage down. In Canadian football, the neutral zone is a full one yard in front of the tip of the ball during a scrimmage down. The snapper (usually the center) is exempt, as he must place his hand on the ball (thus entering the neutral zone) to execute the snap.
The neutral zone is much longer for kickoffs and safety kicks, where ten yards separates the kicking team from the receiving team. The kicker and, if used, a holder are allowed to enter this neutral zone. In addition to not being allowed to enter the neutral zone before the kick, the kicking team may not recover their own kick in the neutral zone.
Knowing whether the ball has passed beyond the neutral zone or remained in or behind the neutral zone is important during forward pass plays and during scrimmage kicks.
- "Behind the neutral zone" refers to the "offensive" side of the neutral zone.
- "In the neutral zone" refers to the actual neutral zone.
- "Beyond the neutral zone" refers to the "defensive" side of the neutral zone.
An additional definition of the neutral zone came into effect after a September 12, 2005, fight between the Philadelphia Eagles' Jeremiah Trotter and the Atlanta Falcons' Kevin Mathis that occurred prior to the opening kickoff. The NFL then instituted a rule that each end of the field from the end zone to the 45-yard line is reserved for one team, and that no player other than a kicker may be between the 45-yard lines prior to the game.
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Famous quotes containing the words neutral and/or zone:
“The seashore is a sort of neutral ground, a most advantageous point from which to contemplate this world. It is even a trivial place. The waves forever rolling to the land are too far-traveled and untamable to be familiar. Creeping along the endless beach amid the sun-squall and the foam, it occurs to us that we, too, are the product of sea-slime.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“There was a continuous movement now, from Zone Five to Zone Four. And from Zone Four to Zone Three, and from us, up the pass. There was a lightness, a freshness, and an enquiry and a remaking and an inspiration where there had been only stagnation. And closed frontiers. For this is how we all see it now.”
—Doris Lessing (b. 1919)