Trying to manage a football gamewould be nearly impossible withouteffective and pointed communication.Although managing players isprimarily the responsibility of thecoaching staff, officials can facilitatethe conduct of the game if specificofficials manage certain players.
To do that, officials must talk withplayers frequently. There are a fewspecial relationships and here are themost notable ones.
Referee/Quarterback
Thereferee’s first priority is thequarterback. No other official shouldbe observing that player unless heruns the ball beyond the line or goesout of bounds. The referee helpsprotect the quarterback not onlyby holding late-hitting defendersaccountable, but also by deterringunnecessary contact through hispresence and the use of his voice.
When Joe Namath was playing forthe New York Jets, he wanted extraprotection for his receivers — to apoint. In a game against the HoustonOilers, a defensive back made a goodplay on one of Namath’s receivers,coming over the top, hitting the balland then knocking the receiver to theground. Namath turned to refereeJohn McDonough and said, “ForGod’s sake! Why don’t you go downthere and call something? They’rejumping all over my receivers.”
A TV timeout followed, soMcDonough went over to Namathand pointed to the Oilers front four.“They run about 265 pounds eachand they got one thing on their mind.They’re going to rip your head rightoff your shoulders. So, on the nextfour or five plays, you’d better protectyourself.”
“What do you mean?” saidBroadway Joe.
McDonough replied, “Every timeyou throw the ball, Joe, I’m standingright next to you hollering, ‘Don’t hithim. He’s dead.’ So those guys knowyou’ve released the ball and they peelaway and don’t hit you. But I’m notgoing to be here for the next four orfive plays. I’m gonna run downfieldand make sure they don’t mess withyour receivers.” Namath quicklyreplied, “You stay right here. The hellwith the receivers!”
Additionally, the referee can usehis relationship with the quarterbackto take care of problem players,but here is an actual scenario ofexcessive protection. The passer wasflushed from the pocket and fledtoward the sidelines only to reversehimself and flee the opposite way.He finally threw the ball, complete,but stood bent over and gaspingfor breath after the frantic run. Thereferee, approaching him, ordered ateammate to kneel and untie his shoe.“We’re going to take an equipmenttimeout until you are back tobreathing easily.”
Umpire/Snapper
The lower thelevel of play, the more dialogue isnecessary. A premature snap canmake a game ugly in a heartbeat.While that act is clearly a foul, it caneasily be prevented. The penalty isfive yards for delay of game (NFHS3-6-2e; NCAA 3-4-2b-6, 4-1-4).
Long snappers inevitably preferthe laces in a different position thanthe regular snapper so fingers cangrip the laces. Some long snapperslike to move the ball forward togain momentum before passing itbackward and the umpire shouldaddress that as necessary.
As the referee is with thequarterback, the umpire is theprotector of the snapper. Whenthe offense is in a scrimmage kickformation, he should remind thedefense to not hit the snapper. UnderNFHS rules, in that formation, nodefensive player may charge directlyinto the snapper. The protection existsuntil the snapper can protecthimself, blocks or otherwise movesto participate in the play. “Protecthimself” means the snapper has timeto look up and regain his balance.If contacted directly while his headis still down and before he has beengiven a chance to look up, the contactis likely to be a foul. If the contact isslight and indirect, it is unlikely to bea foul.
In NCAA play, no defensiveplayer may initiate contact with thesnapper until one second has elapsedafter the snap. In both codes, theprotection exists whether or not thereis a kick and the penalty is a personalfoul for roughing the snapper, a15-yard penalty with an automaticfirst down (NFHS 2-32-14, 9-4-6;NCAA 9-1-14).
Back judge/Kicker (kickoffs)
The dialogue is essential, especiallybecause most of it should take placebefore the game begins. The backjudge should know how manyplayers are in the formation, and ifthere are less than 11, he should askthe kicker to count his teammates.They should also advise thekicker if any player is in a positionthat would result in a foul when theready is blown (NFHS) or the ball iskicked (NCAA).
The back judge can help preventa premature kick (one before theready is blown) by communicating tothe kicker how it will be made clearto him that it is OK to kick the ball.In many stadiums, the crowd maypreclude hearing the referee’s readywhistle. Some back judges prefer topoint at the kicker when the ready isblown.
Back judge/Punt returner
Onthe first punt for each team, remindthe receiver how to signal properly. Avalid fair catch signal is the extendingand lateral waving of one arm, clearlyabove the head, by any member ofthe receiving team. NFHS specifiesat full arm’s length and NCAAstipulates more than one wave.Examples of invalid signals include:a limp wave, partially extendingand waving one hand in front of theface or chest and fully extending andlaterally waving both heads abovethe head. Any waving signal shouldbe interpreted as an invalid signaland the play whistled dead whena player obtains possession. Whena receiver shades his eyes during akick, he must do so with a bent armand without waving so it cannotbe interpreted as an invalid signal(NFHS 2-9-3, 2-9-4; NCAA 2-8).
Wing officials
The officialson the sideline don’t have arelationship with a specific player but communicating properly withthe widest player in the formation asto whether he is on or off the line isessential. An official should never tella player who isn’t where he wants tobe, to move. That will likely get theofficial blamed for causing a foul.
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