Rare NFL penalty: Bears become first team in 16 years to get flagged for illegal forward handoff

The failed trick play against the Patriots sent viewers scrambling to learn about one of the most obscure rules in the NFL rulebook

Caleb Williams handed the ball to offensive lineman Joe Thuney, resulting in a five-yard penalty that hadn There have been thousands of penalties called in the NFL over the past 15 years, but until Thursday night, there was one penalty that had NEVER been called in that span: Illegal forward handing. During the first half of the Bears' game against the Patriots, Chicago got flagged for that exact penalty. If you don't know what "illegal forward handing: is, don't worry, most people don't, and that's because it almost never gets called. Never heard "illegal forward handing" in my life.Tonight is truly historic. On the play, Caleb Williams took the snap and immediately handed the ball off to guard Joe Thuney.

This was a trick play by the Bears and not only did it NOT work, but they lost five yards after the officiating crew threw a flag. the rare illegal forward handoff 😭 pic.twitter.com/NEz82wd19L The reason you don't see offensive linemen get more handoffs is because in most instances, it's against the rules. As the NFL rule book clearly states, "except where permitted by rule, handing the ball forward to a teammate is illegal." Although you can't have a forward handoff in those last two situations, you can have a backward handoff or pitch it backwards to a teammate once