Minnesota Vikings

How come I never see a halfback in (american) football throw the ball out of bounds?

In American football, if the runner is behind the line of scrimmage, he can still throw the ball. Too many times have I seen a running play where the halfback has absolutely no chance to get past the line of scrimmage, so why don't they throw the ball out of bounds? Is there a rule outlawing this? Thanks. Well a foward pass would be illegal but couldn't they throw it behind them and still out of bounds?

Public Comments

1. there is no rule prohibiting it. its just that quarterbacks cant take hits like halfbacks can so wen they r getting rushed they throw it away for two reasons.. to avoid the hit and avoid the loss of yards. halfbacks will try to make something happen
2. unless it is a pass play by design there is probably a lineman already down field (past the line of scrimmage) on a running play which would make it an illegal forward pass. edit - yes they could but the ball would be spotted where it went out of bounds so they would actually lose yardage by doing that. best to just lower your shoulder and cover the ball and get what you can
3. Most of the time they're running between the tackles so if they were to throw out of bounds it would be intentional grounding and they wouldn't want to risk it getting intercepted or fumbling the ball. But on sweeps that would be kinda smart, but mainly I think that they don't want to turn it over if they mishandle the ball and fumble it while trying to throw it out of bounds.
4. If they throw it forwards, it's intentional grounding (and probably a whole bunch of illegal receivers downfield). If it's a lateral, the ball's put in play where it went out of bounds, resulting in the loss of more yardage. And occasionally it'll bounce funny and wind up a turnover. With the three possibilities all being negative, and none positive, you aren't likely to see it.