What Happens If an NFL Kick Hits a Video Board?

Sep 20

2 min read

Updated: Oct 10

If a loose ball hits a video board, guide wire, Skycam, drone or another overhead object during an NFL play, the ball is dead. The down is replayed from the previous spot and the game clock is reset to the time of the snap.

Part of Football 101. Explore the guide to choose your next topic.

Atlanta Falcons kicker Younghoe Koo approaches a field-goal attempt at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in 2021. — Younghoe Koo attempts a field goal for Atlanta at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in 2021. Photo by All-Pro Reels, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Photo source and license: Wikimedia Commons file page.

This is a specific playing rule for physical contact with an overhead object. It is different from a display showing a distracting image or a team objecting to stadium presentation.

What happens to the apparent result?

Suppose a punt hits a suspended board, drops to a returner and is returned for a touchdown. If the officials establish the overhead contact, that return cannot stand. The play is administered as a replayed down from the original spot.

The team does not lose possession merely because its kick struck the object. The next attempt still has to follow the ordinary scrimmage kick rules.

Some fouls still matter

Replaying the down does not erase personal fouls or unsportsmanlike conduct. The rule preserves those penalties while removing the competitive result of the interrupted play.

That distinction prevents players from treating the contact as permission for a late hit or other misconduct. Officials still have to settle applicable enforcement before restarting.

Can replay establish the contact?

Whether a loose ball touched an overhead object is reviewable. The replay official may initiate review of that issue at any point in the game. Clear evidence of contact is what triggers the special remedy; a camera angle that merely makes the ball look close to a cable does not establish it.

This also differs from a ball hitting an inbounds official, which normally leaves it live. An official is not overhead equipment for purposes of this rule.

For viewers, the useful sequence is physical contact, dead ball, relevant foul enforcement, restored clock and replayed down. The rule resolves an obstruction, rather than awarding either team the unpredictable bounce that followed.