Just returning to this thread because in our latest game, my opponent pulled me up on it.
I had passed, the catch had been caught, the reciever had run and handed off, and i was about to move the new ball carrier. My opponent asked how on earth i was allowed to make so many consecutive moves in one turn, progressing a long way into her half of the pitch in the process.
I pulled out the LRB to find the exact wording that would prove to her that i could actually pass and hand off in the same turn.
And.. i struggled to find it!
First of all, hand off is not included in the list of actions on page 8 (but this is understandable as it is covered as an extra rule later on, but it's omission here didn't help my case!)
Secondly, in the hand-off section (page 20), it states the following...
"A hand-off is a type of very Short pass..."
...note that 'Short' is capitalised there, just as it is capitalised when it is referred to in the charts for throwing. This serves to strengthen the case for my opponent, as it seems to be saying that a hand-off IS just a Short pass (the shortest possible version of it!) and not a seperate action in its own right. If it wasn't capitalised, the reference could be treated as simply saying 'well, it's a bit like throwing a pass, but here's how its different...' But, the wording here seems to categorise hand-offs as a kind of PASS.
The only part which really helps to define a hand-off as a different action to passing comes shortly after the previous quote...
'Handing off the ball is an action, like Move, Blitz, Pass,etc' (pg 20)
...which helped my case a bit, as both hand off and pass are mentioned seperate to each other in the same sentance, so then great, that means they are definitely different actions, but then my opponent pointed out further down (page 20) that...
'The hand-off counts as an 'accurate pass''
...which could easily be understood to mean that the hand-off IS your one permitted pass for that team turn.
Finally showed my opponent some references to run, pass, run, hand-off, run-type plays in non-LRB material, and also some of the posts on this thread, and that seems to have done the job! But it did make me consider the following points:
* Do you think that handing off (as well as fouling) should now be listed in the actions list on page8? (a note could be included next to these two actions to refer new players to the extra rules section if they wish to find out what they are while absorbing the core rules, even if they do not wish to use them yet). It would then definitely identify a hand-off as a different action, and, i think that the action list is pretty important to the game and should be totally complete, regardless of where the descriptions of the actions occur within the LRB. (just as several others have mentioned how much better it would be to have all the causes of a turnover included together).
* Is the wording in the hand-off section a bit misleading? I think that 'A hand-off is similar to a very Short pass' would be a lot better. Saying that it is a TYPE of very Short pass makes it sound like it belongs under the Short pass heading. Noticed the request at the front of the LRB for suggestions for making the rules clearer, so if typos and clarification are being considered for the LRB, then i think that this might help, and certainly wouldn't hurt.
* More interestingly, (i have very little interest in all this kind of nit-picking over wording and the like believe it or not; difficult to believe looking at how much i've typed here! lol)... was wondering if it was ever considered to just have either a pass or a hand-off per team turn during the conception of the 3rd edition rules, or was the current rule of allowing both always been the intention?
Seemed to me like it was quite a dramatic departure from the old 2nd edition, which maintained the feeling of actions occuring simultaneously (by only allowing the pass at the end of the turn), rather than the very consecutive-action play that is possible from 3rd edition onwards. Would like to hear from anyone who chatted to Jervis Johnson or anyone else involved in the 3rd edition game's design what the thinking was at the time for changing this facet of the game.
Cheers! John
p.s. can anyone point me int he right direction for the proposed kicking rules? Ta!
There could be no stopping them then. 
