Stryker

I for one am sick and tired each time a kick returner or defender runs a ball out of the endzone for a TD and get credited for a 103 or 105yd TD. I believe the longest play in history is Either Ed Reed returning an interception or Devon Hester returning a missed FG for 108-109 yards. I understand the rationale of logic it takes to say someone ran more than 100 yards, but by that line of logic, we should be crediting these players for their East West yardage as well. It makes just as much sense.

First off, there are yardage markers or hash line designations in the endzone. Just the goal line and the back line which we all know is 10 yards. Deciding whether a play is 107 or 106 yards is arbitrary at best. Not knowing exactly how many yards deep in the endzone that the play begins already discredits the crediting of extra yardage.

Secondly, Say someone intercepts the ball in the back of the endzone and starts running forward. He is tackled before he reaches the goal line for a touchback. By rule the Ball is given to the Defense on the 20yd line, however the defensive player is not credited with any return yardage. They don't get the 5-6 yards that they ran in the endzone, nor do they get the 20 yds credited to them via the touchback. This is now a double standard to crediting a player for yardage earned in the end zone.

Continuing on this line of reasoning, Say someone intercepts the ball 5 yards deep in the endzone and run the ball out to the 10 yard line. I can't ever recall a player earning 15 yards for return yardage for this type of play. They would receive 10 yards. Much like on kickoffs and punts. Players run the ball out of the endzones often on kick returns. The return is credited for the yardage run on the field of play. They get tackled at the 28, then they get a 28 yard return. So what is the magical property that turns these return TDs into 100+ yardage plays as soon as they reach the other endzone? Those 3-4 yards that returners run out of the endzone don't count......unless you score. Sorry, but that doesn't make any sense to me whatsoever.

Furthermore, Football is not Rugby. When you reach the goaline and score a TD in football, the play is over as soon as the ball first touches the plane of the goaline. In rugby, you are live and trying to run as close as you can to the center of the field after you score your try. Wherever you are tackled determines where you place the ball for the extra point (kind of like what we do in football in between the hash marks, but rugby continues this from of spotting the ball from sideline to sideline. This means in Football you can't get extra yardage after you score the football, so the extra 10 yards you can run out of the back of the endzone will not show up on return stats.

I personally think the NFL should eliminate all plays over 100 yards and simply call them 100 yard plays. By saying one play is 101 yards and another is 108 creates a strange mental difference of one being a better play when both traveled the entire length of the field to score a TD. They are both have the same result. Stop giving credit to players running for yards that are not in the field of play, and we can all start cheering for 100 yd plays! That is everyone but offensive players. They will always be 1 yard behind the defense and returners at having the longest scoring plays!