Disputed Calls

During the course of this season a number of times officials have made decisions only to have players, assistant coaches and coaches call out or come up to an official to tell him something different or to justify their actions or to tell us our job.

Back in September 2007 Simon wrote about 'The Role of the Captain.' While this cut down on the number of people coming up to officials questioning something it has not cut back on the 'disputed call' factor.

Page 14 of the 2007 NCAA Rule Book states:
'Talking to Officials - When an official imposes a penalty or makes a decision, he simply is doing his duty as he sees it. He is on the field to uphold the integrity of the game of football, and his decisions are final and conclusive and should be accepted by players and coaches.'

I have bold the part 'as he sees it' as this appears to be the most contentious issue among many players and some coaching staff. It is the way an official judges the action he sees before him. While a player may appear over a goal line once a pile of players get off him it is when the whistle blew for forward progress that places the ball short of the goal line. Any amount of finger pointing and telling the official look where the ball is will make no change to a decision. Only another official will be able to sway some opinion of 'are you sure?'

I applaud the club who has worked out ways to approach officials in a non-confrontational manner, I applaud the captains who approach us with 'may I ask a question?' It is seeking clarification for something rather than telling us we missed something or called something wrong. Participants of the game must think clearly of who their audience is before approaching and speaking to someone and how this may then be interpreted by the person or people listening. Calling out something that can be heard by everyone makes the audience everyone and if the comment challenges a call then it will be penalised accordingly.

In reality watching D1 NCAA Football games may put the wrong slant on what truly is sportsmanship in the NCAA Rule Book. For example while those more 'professional leagues' allow personnel into the 2 yard zone closer to the sideline the end result can be chaos. Everyone standing on the sideline knows that the area should be clear for officials, yet these people shown clearly flout that rule and then complain when something happens. Sportsmanship and respect are interwoven throughout the rules in how to play the game legally. Participants in the game make a choice of how to approach a person or problem no matter how heated the contest has become.

I and other officials have been surrounded by players on some occassions challenging close calls. This is not good for the safety of the official nor for the image of the game nor following and understanding 'The Football Code' at the front of the NCAA Football Rule Book.

Remember we all have our roles to play in the game 'Players play the game, coaches coach the players, officials officiate and spectators cheer for their team.' It is hard enough doing one of these well let alone having people trying to do 2 or more of them at the same time.

Grant Martin