TD Pass Recpetion Rules Question ??

Why should the ground be treated any different than a defender? If a player gets both feet down but immediately gets hit by a defender and the ball comes loose, that's going to usually be declared an incomplete pass because clear possession wasn't made. Same with the ground. Players need to maintain possession of the ball when hitting anything, whether it be a goal post, a defender, the ground, a teammate, etc. I like the rule the way it is.

 

Yep - and the ground rule makes more sense than the push-out rule ever did, far less speculation there.

For another side point: in Association Football (i.e. soccer), there is a rule regarding 'part of the pitch', which basically says anything that is part of the pitch is in play. So if the ball bounces off the referee and into the goal, then it's still a goal, because the referee is 'part of the pitch' - it's no different than if the ball hit a bit of rucked up turf and changed direction because of it.

So anything that isn't a player, but is on the field, is 'part of the pitch' - this includes the referee, other balls, bottles, streakers, over-excited fans, and even coaches who have strayed accidentally on to the pitch. The ball touches any of them, play continues as thought it's just touched the ground and bounced off. The coaches can, though, be penalised after the event for leaving their designated area.

 

Then why shouldn't the ground should be able to cause a fumble for a runner, even if his knee was down first.

 

Because once the players knee is down the play is over. Although technically if the player goes down on his own and fumbles, then the ground can cause a fumble.