Weekly Bull 11/4/13

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!  The SDCFOA golf tournament to benefit the SD Youth Football Fund has received status to qualify up to three foursomes in the Randy Jones Invitational Golf Tournament.  36 qualifiers from the Randy Jones event will move on to the first-ever City-Wide Amateur Team Championship in early February at Torrey Pines on February 8-9.  The winner of that event will receive an all-expenses paid trip to Pebble Beach and a $10,000 award to the charity of their choice.  The Sycuan event will also include a $1 million hole-in-one contest.  Only a few spots remain open for this year’s SDCFOA golf tournament.  Contact Ed Blick ASAP to reserve a spot.

The Stress of Coaching – Welcome back Coach Carroll, we missed you on the sideline helping us with our calls!  But seriously, two NFL head coaches have suffered possible stress related illnesses, and we all remember Urban Myer’s bout with stress.  My father developed ulcers coaching in high school.  This is a stressful, emotional game and we need to take care of ourselves for our teams, the game, and our families and loved ones! 

Momentum and the Goal Line – Last week I introduced the concept of touchback vs safety.  The basic question being: Who put the ball in the end zone?  If it was the kickers (punt) or passer (interception) and the player is down in the end zone it is a touchback.  BUT, if the player clearly possesses the ball in the field of play and then he runs the ball back into the end zone and is tackled or downed there, safety.  When in doubt it is a touchback. 

But there is also a momentum rule!  When a defensive player intercepts a forward pass, or catches a punt, between the 5 yard line and the goal line, and his original momentum carries him into the end zone, where the player is tackled or is down, the ball belongs to the defense at the spot where the pass was intercepted or the punt was caught.  These are all judgment calls but can be easy if you let the play finish and you – don’t panic – and think of these three options.

Categories of DPI – To help with these critical calls we’ve borrowed the following 7 categories of DPI from the NFL and NCAA:

1. Not Playing the Ball and Early Contact

2. Playing Through the Back of a Receiver

3. Grabbing and Restricting a Receiver’s Arm or Body

4. Extending an Arm Across the Body – Arm Bar

5. Cutting Off or Riding the Receiver Out of the Path of the Ball

6. Hooking and Restricting a Receiver in an Attempt To Prevent a Catch or Get to the Ball

7. Face-Guarding is the Only Non-Contact Dpi and Must be a Prolonged and Obvious Act

Simultaneous Catch – If a DB and a receiver both catch the ball at the same time (simultaneous catch) and they are at the sideline and proceed out of bounds, if the ruling is simultaneous catch, the ball goes to the offense (by rule) and the ball is dead immediately upon the dual possession.  So the ball must be ruled down in bounds and the clock must continue to run (official signals by winding the clock) unless the play has resulted in a first down where the clock will start on the ready-for-play signal (hack).

Gap in our 5-Man Crew – The biggest gap in our coverage with five men vs seven men mechanics is the goal line when a play starts outside the 5 yard line.  This week we had a play that started at the 13 yard line.  The back leaked out into the flat and caught the pass and headed to the goal line.  The flank hesitated as the runner and pursuit came toward him.  The runner headed for the pylon and dove as the defenders arrived to make the tackle.  When this happens, we must work as a team!  The flank must view feet for OB and whether the runner left his feet and dove for the goal line (goal line extended).  If the runner left his feet and dove he does NOT get the goal line extended.  If the runner’s foot/feet are still down, then the ball can be extended outside the pylon (goal line extended) and score a TD.  Meanwhile, the back judge must rule on whether the ball crossed the plane of the goal line.  The two officials must put their information together before ruling in order to make the correct call.

Accuracy of the Chain Crew – The head linesman is responsible for the accuracy of the chain crew.  I received a report of a very “loyal” clip person who put the clip in a position that would benefit his team if there was a measurement.  Head linesmen, if you were to discover errors being made, you must correct them or request a new chain crew or member.  But more importantly, when you grab the clip to run the chains out for a measurement, take a second to glance up to make sure the clip is in its proper position before you pick it up.

Illegal Use of Hands – What is the correct penalty for a defender taking out a receiver who is running his route? We had this in a big game this week where the safety came up and knocked the receiver down just as the pass went up.  They made the correct call of DPI as the ball was just in the air.  But what if the passer didn’t throw the ball yet? Then the correct call is illegal use of hands Rule 9-2-3d page 68.