If a ball hits the uprights or crossbar during a play from scrimmage,
is the ball then dead or is it still in play?

In the Denver/New England game 11/03/03, the Patriots attempted an
intentional safety by snapping the ball over their own punter's head,
in the endzone.  The ball struck the goal post portion in the field of
play and fell into the endzone.  A safety was awarded to the Broncos. 
Was the ball still live at that point, and could the Broncos have
recovered it for a touchdown?

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Request for Question Clarification by justaskscott-ga on 05 Nov 2003 08:56 PST

Finding the actual rule is difficult online; the rules are not
published online, but rather in book form.  There is a digest of
rules, but this event is so unusual that it is not specifically
covered by the digest.

I have, however, found the official play-by-play for this game, which
indicates what the ruling on the field was.  Would that be a
sufficient answer?

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Clarification of Question by garner-ga on 05 Nov 2003 09:36 PST

I watched the game and saw the play-by-play, so I think I know what
the ruling on the field was.  What I'm looking for is a specific
reference in the NFL Book of Playing Rules which defines the status of
the goalposts in that situation.

garner-ga

I am not sure if this satisfy you as an answer, so I post it as a
comment, if you accept this as a proper answer, please let me know and
I will post it in the answers box.

The ball struck the goal post, and for this case the goal posts are
considered out of field (like ground), so the ball bounced out of the
field of play and then fell into the endzone, there was a safety.

Regards.
livioflores-ga

Only information I can find stating the ball is dead when hitting the goal post:

On a forward pass, if the ball hits the goal post, it is ruled
incomplete and and the ball is dead.
NFL.com: Digest of Rules
http://ww2.nfl.com/fans/rules/forwardpass.html

Any punt or missed field goal that touches a goal post is is dead.
NFL.com: Digest of Rules
http://ww2.nfl.com/fans/rules/kicksfromscrimmage.html