Football Official

Football Official

Zebra

Somewhere in, NJ

Male, 62

I've officiated football for over 30 years, now in my 26th on the college level. I've worked NCAA playoffs at the Division II and III level. In addition, I've coached at the scholastic level and have been an educator for over 35 years. I have no interest whatsoever in being an NFL official! Ever!

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514 Questions

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Last Answer on January 23, 2021

Best Rated

player is in field of play reaches ball to outside of pylon is this a touchdown ?

Asked by dmesz15@hotmail.com over 9 years ago

Hmm. I'm trying to envision your play. If the ball carrier is still inside the pylon as he crosses the goal, then the ball touching the pylon makes it "in bounds" and you have a TD. But if the ball crosses the sideline before it reaches the pylon, say at the one or two yard line, then it's out of bounds and even if the player hits the pylon, with his body, the ball is out of bounds where it crossed the sideline.

Why in the Lions Green bay game was the Packers awarded the ball on a kickoff that didn't go out of bounds but the player did and was out of bounds when he recovered the ball on the 2 yard line . The Lions were given a 15 yard penalty.

Asked by Robert lozon over 9 years ago

I answered this one above but.....

If the ball touches anything that's out of bounds, the ball is out of bounds. Therefore if the player is out of bounds - or straddling the line - then the ball is a kick out of bounds and a foul against the kicking team.

To what extent is a tackler responsible for knowing whether the ballcarrier is in-bounds or OB? Assume late whistles:
A: Ballcarrier steps on sideline and is immediately tackled.
B: Ballcarrier is two steps OB and is tackled.
C. All cases in-between

Asked by Bridgbum over 9 years ago

That's a good question. Simply put, the tackler is responsible - period. And don't assume any whistle; as is often said, the play kills itself, not the whistle. For example, if a player is down and there's no immediate whistle, and the player gets hit, it's a foul, whistle or not.

Back to out of bounds: in your example A, you can envision the tackler right there as the runner hits OOB. You probably don't flag that because it's happening so quickly at the sideline. In B, you have a foul; that's pretty obvious. Cases in between? There really isn't an in-between. If the runner steps out, he's out and can't be hit. If the contact begins while the runner is in bounds, then it's not a foul unless there is unnecessary continuing contact out of bounds.



Why is a runner/receiver ruled out of bounds when/where the ball crosses the imaginary plane of the boundary. But a ball can be caught after it crosses the same plane? The first is difficult to officiate and get the spot right even in replay.

Asked by Stuart.a.tomlinson@gmail.com over 8 years ago

Your question is a little confusing but let me try.

When a runner goes out of bounds, the ball is spotted where the ball crosses the OOB line, not the runner. It's pretty straight forward and not that difficult to officiate.

I'm not quite sure what the second part of your question means, but here goes. The ball isn't out of bounds until it touches something out of bounds. A player in the field of play is not OOB. So if a player reaches out and catches a ball that has crossed the sideline - and he is still in bounds - the ball is still in play and it's a catch.

If I ran a slip screen in the NFL, can the O-Line go downfield before a forward pass is caught, if it is caught behind the LOS? Or does the pass have to be backwards?

Asked by Thunder23 almost 10 years ago

Line can go down one yard. Beyond that is illegal. A pass behind the line is, I believe, the same - no more than one yard.

I noticed a few weeks ago Stefan Diggs for the Vikings received a fine for using the goal post as a prop in his celebration. Why aren’t players that climb the wall after a touchdown fined? Seems like they are using the wall as a prop?

Asked by Butch over 8 years ago

I don't know what the NFL allows in that regard. The "Lambeau Leap" has been accepted for quite a while. That mat play into the decision.

If on same play team #1 commits 2 infractions and team #2 commits one infraction, what is the result of the play

Asked by louko over 9 years ago

While there are some exceptions to this, the folks offset. If there is a found that results in a dusqualuficaton, even with an offset, be player is still ejected.