The use of the helmet & spearing

Probably the most argued about rulings this year have been the illegal use of the helmet / spearing calls. I draw your attention to the relevant sections of the 2007 NCAA rulebook that discuss this:

• Points of Emphasis (Page 8, regarding the Football Code)

It is noted that the Code emphasizes the following unethical practices: “Using the helmet as a weapon. The helmet is for protection of the player...” and “players and coaches should emphasize the elimination of spearing.”

• Points of Emphasis (Page 10)

Intentional helmet-to-helmet contact is never legal, nor is any other blow directed toward an opponent’s head. Flagrant offenders shall be disqualified.
Additionally, the committee altered Rules 9-1-2-l and n slightly to encourage officials to penalize head-down contact and leading with the crown of the helmet when tackling.

• Football Code (Page 13, regarding Coaching Ethics)

The following are unethical practices:
...
b. Using the football helmet as a weapon. The helmet is for the protection of the player.

• Rule 2-24-1: Spearing (Page FR-52)
  

Spearing is the use of the helmet (including the face mask) in an attempt to punish an opponent.

• Rule 9-1-2-l, m & n (Page FR-118)

l. No player shall use his helmet (including the face mask) to butt or ram an opponent in an attempt to punish him (A.R. 9-1-2-XVI).

m. There shall be no spearing (A.R. 9-1-2-XVII).

n. No player shall strike a runner with the crown or the top of his helmet in an attempt to punish him.

One of the major drives in the past few years at both high-school and NCAA level, has been to remove the use of the helmet as a weapon and this desire is very clearly stated in the Points of Emphasis above. The actions of particular concern are those in which the crown of the helmet is involved as an impact point (i.e. collisions where a player drops his head). These place the highest strain on the spine and have a greatly increased risk of serious injury for both players involved.

Let me state quite clearly that I have never come across a coach of any renown who teaches players to use their helmet in such a manner. I have never read an article or book, watched a video, nor seen any other instructional material of any sort that advocates "head down" tackling, blocking or ball carrying.

Yet almost without fail on a weekly basis I hear complaints such as:

• "But my hands touched him first!"
• "But I wrapped him up!"
• "But he got lower than I expected!"
• "But I'm carrying the ball!"
  

None of these are relevant in the slightest. If you are observed making contact with another player with the helmet crown as a direct point of contact (you have "dropped your head"), you will be penalised for a personal foul. As with any such fouls, if it is deemed to be flagrant, you will be ejected.

The use of any other part of the helmet (generally the facemask) in a head-butting or ram movement is specifically outlawed as given above. This however occurs much less often in the local league at least, and is rarely argued about.

As always, I welcome any comments people may have.

Regards,

Simon

Helmet to Helmet

A while back I mentioned I had a PowerPoint presentation for avoiding the use of the helmet during a tackle. I have been on the search for a while now to find a video to help clubs learn and teach how to use the correct tackling technique. Please view the following You Tube videos as a resource.

Video 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkBAiK7WEFA

Video 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l87K6PoLD60

Please view and discuss but I would say that SAGOA has been pretty vigilant in this area but still some tidy up to do in continued enforcement for safety of people.

Grant Martin

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

Sorry Not Here

Well I have been away for a week so no updates from SAGOA but during this month our web site and blog spot have hit all new time highs, so thanks for the support.
On the SAGOA web site we actually ran out of bandwidth for the month in 10 days so had to upgrade to a new package.
Although only a small number of people answer the polls there is a feeling that education of the rules in our league is something that must be continually done. Should this be left to the clubs themselves or should the league involve SAGOA in some way?
This would be worthy of a question and answer time at a GASA meeting so it would be interesting to see which club brings this discussion up as a worthy suggestion.
Anyhow all the best for this coming weekend of games.

Grant Martin

GASA Clock

I have been writing about this issue since October 2004 and it is also published under the SAGOA resources web page, has been there now for over a year. Why does this still bring issues of misunderstanding? Really when we hear comments about coaches, captains and QB telling us how to run the clock many a time it is 99% wrong.

Out of 72 quarters of football this year I can think of only 3 timing errors, these were when a false start was blown late twice and the play got underway or a substitution infraction called late allowing a play to continue and then brought back once the officials double checked on numbers and the situation. With so few quarters having timing errors less than 5% of the season then the clock has run correctly for 95% of the time, but changes made accordingly for 100% accuracy.

The clock is a modified rule for SA in which people still do not understand yet SAGOA have run this style of clock under the modified rule since about inception, 1986. (I could be wrong on the year but it has been around for a very long time.)

Below is the updated excerpt for the 2007/08 season: (Some parts have been bolded and italicised for emphasis from the original article.)

Timing

GASA Clock 2006/07 Season (also 2007/08)

GASA run what is called a fast clock for all games. We do not run exactly to NCAA Rules, except inside 2 minutes of the second and fourth quarters.

What does this mean for teams who wish to control the clock better?

The Referees are putting the ball into play 10 to 15 seconds after the previous play finishes. This may extend out further on hot days to 20 seconds. This means a play every 40-45 seconds.

The game clock continues to run at all times except:

• Incomplete pass
• Change of possession – interception, fumble recovery by Team B, and kick plays.
• Play ends up out of bounds
• Officials time out
• Injury time out
• Team time out
• First Downs to move the chains

If the game clock is stopped when does it start?

The game clock will always start with the ready for play by the Referee, except inside the 2-minute warning.

Inside the 2 minutes the game clock will start depending on how it was stopped, according to NCAA Rules 2005 (and now 2007 NCAA Rules). Generally if the teams stopped it first then it will start on the snap. If the Officials stopped it then it will start on the ready for play by the Referee.

As usual there are exceptions. If the Officials stop the clock to move the chains for a first down then a team calls a time out, the next time the game clock starts will be on the snap.

The teams time out override the Officials stopping the clock. The same on a first down and a player going out of bounds. The player going out of bounds overrides the officials stopping of a clock for the first down, so therefore the game clock will start on the snap.

If an Official is unsure about a first down he will signal to stop the clock so that the Referee can check. As soon as it is determined that it is short the Officials will signal for the game clock to start again.

A tip to manage the clock better.

• If inbounds and there is an obvious first down do you need to call a time out? The clock has stopped already for the Officials to move the chains. It will take a while to get the chains moved (20 to 30 seconds depending on the distance to cover by the chain crew.) Generally though as soon as the down marker is placed where the new set of downs begin the ready for play whistle will sound and the game and play clock will begin. The game clock will start on the ready and not the snap. Your intentions may be to have the game clock start on the snap because of the time out. If you want to discuss a play you might have time while the chains set up and not have to call a time out.

Modified from Week 10 2004 SAGOA Articles to Head Coaches.

There are a number of timing changes in the 2006 NCAA Rulebook that do not fit our circumstances. Also these changes may come under more scrutiny before the next season. (disregard this comment for season 2007 onwards.)

Anyhow I hope this can clear this up once and for all so that all coaches, players and captains understand this vital rule in a close game. I also hope that the coaches group can put these modified rules together as SAGOA should not be informing these sorts of issues midway through a season, nor should be the ones communicating this to coaches. SAGOA is only to enforce the rules on the field but should not be taking the responsibility to teaching the rules to participants, unless coaches, captains and other senior players are willing to attend a meeting to get a better understanding. There is no point in me conducting a meeting with just one small group of people as my experience tells me that the message does not filter down to the people that matter, THE PLAYERS.

Happy New Year and best of luck for your last few games. It has been very close with almost another draw happening and a few upsets still to happen along the way. It will be interesting to see just who checks on the blog for updated information ready for part 2 of the season.

Grant Martin

Sideline 2 - Severe brain injury to Assistant Coach

Just a reminder that 6 feet from the sidelines belong to the officials and them only. I have read a very sad article where an assistant coach was standing in the restricted area and an official collided with him. The assistant came off second best and has not worked a game, nor his job, for the past 2 years because of a brain injury. His insurance company is now suing the officials for $10 million for not enforcing the 6 foot rule.
SAGOA actually started moving the orange numbers further off the sideline a few weeks ago for our safety and those standing on the sideline. This leaves one side under the stand very cramped but a necessary evil.
Coming into the second half of the season officials will be trained to allow only one coaching staff member into the restricted area between plays. This can include an assistant or head coach but it is only one person. That players only substitute through the zone.
If an official reminds you once he must then inform the Referee the second time he reminds you about the sideline enforcement. If the sideline officials run into a player or coach during a play it will be an automatic 15 yard penalty and possibly an ejection, depending on the intent or number of warnings given about staying back.
On the flip side if the sideline official does not also heed warnings from the Training Officer or Referee and keep moving the sideline personnel back they may miss future games or require retraining for the position and begin to enforce the rule about the 6 feet safety zone.
This may seem a petty rule but I was LJ a few weeks ago and backed up into an assistant coach in the 6 foot area, I heard a sorry but that was to late. I had warned the sideline once already. I flagged a warning on a head coach standing inside the chains on a previous game and that also is not a place to stand safely.
If you have cheerleaders please ask them to go to the extreme ends of the field but well back from the sideline so that large squads like the Eagles and Razorbacks still have room to move on the home sideline. The Referee may suspend a game until the sideline is deemed safe.
I thank you for your cooperation in future games and hope we do not have any severe collisions that require medical attention in the future.

Grant Martin

Numbers 50 to 79 - Start of Game

During a season it may become difficult for teams to put the correct player numbers in the ineligible positions. This is a clear breach of the rules as there must be at least 5 players numbered 50 to 79 on the LOS. SAGOA has allowed at times 1 player to wear an eligible number in an ineligible position but over the past few weeks having 3 or 4 eligible numbers in ineligible positions makes it very hard for officials to determine for ineligibles down field. If you have injured linemen being replaced by previous eligible numbered players then please use the spare jersey so that your team is playing within the rules. (Rule 1 Section 4 Article 2b)

After the Christmas/New Years break the officials will be penalising this from the start of the game if teams start the game playing eligible numbers in ineligible positions. If injuries occur during the game then it is courteous to let the officials know that this has happened so that we can adjudicate the game according to the rules on ineligible players by position.

Please check that your team matches this rule at the beginning of a game and let the officials know if it changes during the game.

Grant Martin

The Official Missed That?

Comments are made many a time towards officials and in reports that certain calls were missed. Sometimes they are and sometimes they are not worthy of a call by the judgment of the official.

Some calls are missed just by having players standing in the line of vision of an official. An official may hear something happen but not have the actual vision of what occurred.

There has been much discussion about holding calls and officials not seeing it. As with other NCAA officials in the USA we have a set of standards and philosophies to work to when looking at holding calls. One of these is looking at the POA (Point of Attack.) This is critical as we could call holding on every play yet 90% of these wouldn't be affecting the play in the direction of the ball carrier. One player mentioned that he was held so badly that he couldn't chase the ball carrier yet the hold was 10 yards away. How could that actually affect the play? The only way it could is if the ball carrier cut back and created a POA closer to where the holding was occurring.

Another may be where a ball carrier runs past an opponent and the opponent turns to chase the ball carrier but is legged and held by his lower leg. His team mates tackle the ball carrier a yard or 2 further on. Technically a hold but it had no affect on the play as the POA had already passed the would be tackler. He had his opportunity to bring the ball carrier to the ground but missed it. Just because he is then held after the fact should not bring him a 'freebie' 10 yard penalty because he missed a tackle and then was held.

Another situation may be right at the POA where a hold occurs inside the frame of the body holding the jersey of the opponent. The opponent holds his arms out to show he is being held 'Aussie Rules' style. By this very action the player has shown he has given up and is no longer fighting to get to the ball carrier. In fact by this time he is probably being pushed back and his opponent has won his position on the field allowing the ball carrier to pass right by him. This can occur in crucial plays and end up allowing the ball carrier to score a touchdown.

In these situations are the players being held challenging an officials judgment which is final? I appreciate that players wish to bring situations to the attention of the officials and many of you do this in a polite manner such as 'Sir please watch the holding.' But if the official says that he saw the hold and it had no bearing on the play then the reasons may be that you just weren't at the POA and it had no bearing on the play whatsoever or you actually gave into the hold and no longer fought for your position on the field.

I hope that brings some understanding about how the official judges the call for holding.

Grant Martin

No posts

Sorry guys there are no posts this week as I was not at the games last weekend and then had an urgent family matter to deal with.

Grant Martin

Safety

Well when it rains it can pour Safety for some teams. A very rare event indeed but two of them this season.
The latest being a scrimmage kick formation with the kicker standing close to the end goal line. In last weekends case the kicker took possession and while in possession of the ball stepped on the end line making him out of bounds. On the line is out and so the play is immediately stopped. 2 points to the defending team.

Grant Martin