Fumbles: Rules, Recoveries and Advancing the Ball
What counts as a fumble, who can recover and advance it, what happens when it goes out of bounds or into the end zone, and the special rules for fourth down and the end of a half.
The ball pops free at the bottom of a tackle and bounces across the turf. Eleven players dive after it, and for a few seconds nobody in the stadium knows who will end up with it. A pile forms. Officials wade in and start pulling bodies off, one at a time, until they find the player who has the ball and can tell which team's jersey he is wearing.
A fumble is football's purest scramble, and the rules that govern it are some of the oldest in the sport. They answer four practical questions: what counts as a fumble in the first place, who may pick the ball up, how far they may carry it, and what happens when the ball leaves the field. This guide covers all four, notes where the rules change on fourth down and late in a half, and explains how fumbles differ from the plays that resemble them.
What counts as a fumble
A fumble is the loss of possession of the ball by a player who has it, when the loss is not the result of a pass or a kick. The classic fumble is a ball carrier who is stripped, or who simply drops it while running. A quarterback who bobbles the snap and loses the ball has also fumbled.
Three features define it.
- Possession was lost. The player had the ball and no longer does. A pass, a kick or an intentional toss is not a fumble.
- The ball is live. Once a fumble occurs the ball is in play, and any player can try to recover it, including players on the team that fumbled.
- It can happen only to a player in possession. A receiver who never gained control of a pass has not fumbled; the pass was incomplete. Our guide to what a catch is explains the point at which a receiver becomes a runner, which is also the point at which he can fumble.
Fumble, muff, backward pass and incomplete pass
Several plays resemble a fumble, and the rules treat them differently.
| Play | What it is | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Fumble | A player in possession loses the ball other than by a pass or kick | Live ball, either team can recover |
| Muff | A player touches a loose ball in an unsuccessful attempt to gain possession, often on a kick | Live ball, with special rules about who may advance it on kicks |
| Backward pass | A pass thrown toward the thrower's own goal line | Live ball, similar to a fumble if it hits the ground |
| Forward pass that hits the ground | An incomplete pass | Dead ball, down is over |
The line between a fumble and a pass can be thin, particularly when a quarterback's arm is moving as he is hit. Our guide to forward pass, backward pass or fumble walks through how officials decide.
Who can recover a fumble
Once a fumble occurs, a player from either team may recover it. A recovery means gaining control of the ball. The same standard of control that applies to a catch applies here: the player must hold the ball, not just touch it.
If two opposing players gain possession at the same moment, the ball is generally awarded to the team that last had possession before the fumble. That means a simultaneous recovery after an offensive fumble belongs to the offense, and after a defensive fumble belongs to the defense. Officials separate piles of players one by one and look for the player who clearly has control.
In a pile, the ball goes to the team of the player who gained control first, if the officials can determine that. A player who stands up holding the ball is not automatically the recoverer, because he may have wrestled it away from someone else after the recovery, so the officials look at the whole pile and not just the last player to touch it.
Advancing the ball after a fumble
When a player recovers a fumble, he may generally advance it, meaning run with it. A defensive player who recovers an offensive fumble becomes a ball carrier and can run toward the other end of the field until he is down, goes out of bounds, or scores. His teammates can block for him. The team that fumbled becomes the defense on the return and tries to tackle him.
An offensive player who recovers his own team's fumble may usually do the same, with exceptions we cover below. A fumble recovered in the opponent's end zone can be a touchdown for the team that recovers it there.
This is why a fumble is so dangerous. It changes possession, and the new possession starts with a ball carrier who may have blockers and an open field. A fumble return for a touchdown, sometimes called a scoop and score, is one of the most dramatic plays in the game.
The special rule for fourth down and late in a half
In the NFL, one of the most important fumble rules limits who may advance the ball in certain situations. If an offensive player fumbles on fourth down, or on any down in the last two minutes of either half, only the player who fumbled may recover and advance the ball. If a teammate recovers it, the ball is dead where the teammate gets it, and the officials place it according to the rule book, generally at the spot of the fumble if the recovery is farther downfield than the fumble.
The rule exists to prevent a team from deliberately fumbling forward to gain yardage in a way the rules did not intend. Without it, a quarterback on fourth down could throw or fumble the ball far downfield, and a teammate could pick it up and run. The rule makes sure a fumble cannot be used as a substitute for a legal forward pass.
The NCAA has its own provision for fourth-down fumbles, and high school rules follow their own wording. If the details matter for your game, read the current rule book for your level.
When a fumble goes out of bounds
If a fumbled ball goes out of bounds, the play is dead. Who gets the ball and where it is spotted depend on where the ball went out and in which direction it was traveling.
- A fumble that goes out of bounds in the field of play belongs to the team that last had possession, which is the fumbling team. The ball is spotted according to the rule book for the level and the direction of the fumble. For a ball that squirts backward and goes out, the ball is generally put in play where it crossed the sideline.
- A forward fumble is treated differently at some levels, to prevent a team from gaining yardage by fumbling forward on purpose. In those cases the ball may be returned to the spot of the fumble instead of where it went out.
The details are specific, and rule books describe them in terms of "spot of the fumble" and "spot where the ball went out of bounds." If you watch a game where a fumble goes out, listen for the referee's explanation of the spot.
Fumbles and the end zone
The end zone adds three special cases.
- A fumble that goes out of bounds through the end zone the opponent is defending. The result is typically a touchback: the defending team takes the ball, and the offense loses possession. This is a rare and costly mistake for an offense that is about to score.
- A fumble recovered by the offense in the opponent's end zone. On a down when the recovery is allowed, it is a touchdown.
- A fumble in a team's own end zone. If a player fumbles in his own end zone and the ball goes out of bounds there, the result can be a safety, two points for the other team. If the opponents recover in the end zone, it is a touchdown for them.
The exact outcomes depend on how the ball got to the end zone, whose force carried it, and the level of play. Rule books spend a fair amount of space on these cases, and the ruling can come down to which player's action first sent the ball there.
When there can be no fumble
A fumble can only occur while the ball is live and the ball carrier is still in play. These situations end the possibility:
- The runner is down. Once a runner is down, the play is over, and any loose ball after that does not count as a fumble. The rules for when a runner is down differ in detail from level to level, including whether contact by an opponent is required, so look up the rules for your level.
- Forward progress has been stopped. An official may blow the whistle when a runner's forward progress is stopped, for example when he is held up by defenders. A ball that comes loose after the whistle does not count as a fumble.
- The player is out of bounds. A ball carrier who steps out of bounds is out, and the play is dead.
- The ball was passed or kicked. A thrown pass or kick is not a fumble, however it looks.
The whistle matters. An official who blows the whistle because he believes the runner is down ends the play. Rule books also have provisions for a whistle blown by mistake while the ball is live, so the result depends on what the officials ruled. If a play ends with a whistle and a ball on the ground, the crew and, where available, replay will sort out what happened.
How replay handles fumbles
In the NFL, every turnover is reviewed by the replay official, and fumbles that change possession are among the plays most often looked at. The review asks several questions:
- Did the player have possession before the ball came loose?
- Was the runner down, or was forward progress stopped, before the ball came out?
- Which team recovered, and where?
- Did the ball go out of bounds, and if so, where?
College football also reviews turnovers, using the replay official. High school games generally do not use replay. For a fuller picture of what can be reviewed, see our guide to instant replay.
Three hypothetical examples
A strip on third down. A running back is tackled from behind, and a defender punches the ball free. A linebacker scoops it up and runs 30 yards before he is tackled. The fumble was live, the linebacker recovered and advanced it, and the defense now has the ball. If the replay shows the runner's knee was down before the ball came out, the call changes to a down by contact and the ball goes back to the offense.
A fourth-down fumble. On fourth-and-2, the quarterback keeps the ball and is hit as he runs. The ball squirts forward. A teammate picks it up and runs for the first-down marker. Because it is fourth down, only the quarterback may advance a fumble, so the ball is dead where the teammate recovered it, and the officials place it according to the rule book. The result depends on where the ball was recovered compared with the spot of the fumble.
A fumble out the back. A running back fumbles inside his own end zone and the ball bounces out of bounds through the back line. That is a safety: two points for the defense and a free kick from the team that fumbled.
In each example, the answer turns on small details: when the ball came loose, who touched it, and where. Those details are why officials spend time sorting out a fumble before announcing the result.
Common misconceptions
"The player who ends up with the ball in a pile gets it." The ball goes to the player who first gained clear control, which officials try to determine by removing players from the pile one by one.
"A fumble that goes out of bounds is always a turnover." No. A fumble that goes out in the field of play belongs to the team that last had possession.
"A fumbled ball can be recovered only by the other team." Either team may recover it.
"Any loose ball after a whistle is a fumble." Once the play is dead, a ball that comes loose does not count.
What coaches teach
Fumbles are the reason coaches spend so much time on ball security. The standard advice is to carry the ball high and tight, protect it with the arm and hand closest to the defender, and use both arms when bracing for contact. Defenders practice punching and stripping the ball. We cover technique in our guide to ball security.
To follow how games swing on turnovers, check the scores page, and look at your team's pages under teams. Recreational leagues, especially flag football, often play with different fumble rules, so look at your league's rules in the Play section.
The short version
- A fumble is a loss of possession by a runner, not by a pass or a kick. The ball is live and either team may recover it.
- The recovering player generally may advance the ball. A defender who recovers can run it back, and a defensive touchdown is possible.
- In the NFL, on fourth down and in the last two minutes of a half, only the fumbler may advance his own team's fumble.
- A fumble out of bounds in the field of play generally belongs to the fumbling team; one through the end zone the opponent defends is a touchback.
- A fumble cannot happen once the runner is down, forward progress has been stopped or the ball is dead.
- Turnovers are reviewed in the NFL and college, and the rules differ by level, so check your rule book.