Intentional Grounding (football)

Intentional Grounding is a foul in football, committed when an offensive player (usually the quarterback), seeking to avoid being sacked by a defensive player, deliberately throws the ball into the ground or to where no eligible receiver can catch the ball (though throwing it out of bounds is generally not called).

However, there are two exceptions to this rule:

• There is no penalty for grounding if the quarterback runs outside the "pocket" (defined as the area between the offensive tackles at the time of the snap) and throws the ball to or beyond the line of scrimmage.
• It is also legal to throw into the ground immediately after receiving the snap (called "spiking the ball"). Notably it is not illegal to fake a spike, as in the famous "fake spike" done by Dan Marino.