The goal of football is to move the ball down the field and into the end zone for a touchdown.
The runner is considered down when either a: His forward progress stops or b: any part of his body other than his foot or hand touches the ground AND he is touched by a player of an opposing team. There is no "down by contact" in college football. That's only in the pros. When a college player goes down he cannot get up and continue running, period. He does not have to be touched by an opposing player to be considered down.
No ... if the shoulder, elbow, forearm, or wrist touch the ground the ball carrier is also considered down.
fumble
It depends. If your knee is touching the ground, or if the ball is, you are considered "down by contact". If both the ball and your knee are off the ground, you are still able to get up and run. (This has happened numerous times with players falling over an opposing player, landing on their feet and continuing on)
no because once the football player has lost all of his forward momentum the refree will mark the ball down there.
The ball is placed where the ball actually is (assuming the player still has "possession") when the player is down by contact or when the knee hits the ground.
No, a timeout can not be called until the player with the ball is down or out of bounds.
no it is defined as follows: player is down when knee or above, or forearm or elbow is cleary on the ground.
Not in the NFLNope. At least not in the NFL. If a ball carrier falls down on top of an opposing player and does not otherwise touch the ground, he is not considered down by contact and may continue to advance the ball.Some part of the ball carrier's body, other than his hands or feet, has to make contact with the ground for him to be considered down(Technically, a knee or elbow or helmet has to make contact with the turf for the carrier to be down).This is true for all levels of football play: HS, NCAA, NFL.
In college football, once a player's knee touches the ground the play is whistled dead regardless of whether a defensive player made contact with the ball carrier. In the NFL, a defensive player must make contact with the ball carrier to have the play whistled dead. So to answer your question, in college the player is down and the play is over. In the NFL, the player is not down and the play continues.
kicking the ball