Bears hit with rare unsportsmanlike penalty for using towel to dry field

Chicago Bears punter Trenton Gill is also the team’s holder on kicks.

He wound up costing his team 15 yards and a chance at a field goal Sunday in the second quarter against the San Francisco 49ers due to an obscure rule.

Here goes: Soldier Field had been inundated by rain, leaving the field soaked.

So, what’s a holder to do when his team is about to attempt a field goal?

Bring a towel onto the field to dry the spot for his kicker, Cairo Santos.

The problem is the rulebook somehow addresses the possibility of such situations and it calls for a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.

Instead of Santos attempting a field goal, Gill had to drop into punt formation.

Story originally appeared on Touchdown Wire