See the Ball!

When I began officiating in 2007, our association began each meeting by having everyone stand, raise their right hands, and recite, “I will not blow my whistle unless I can see the ball.” We’d all laugh and then sit down and continue the meeting. The group pronouncement became trite, and over time, the practice died out. Sometimes rituals such as this can become boring and lose their significance. We stopped declaring one of the most essential football officiating precepts!

In my 17 years officiating high school football, I’ve had (at least) three inadvertent whistles. One of those IWs happened when I blew my whistle while racing toward a fumble pile. Unfortunately, the ball was lying on the ground outside of the pile.

We blow our whistles to indicate the ball is dead by rule. We must see the ball to determine if it is dead. If we can’t see the ball, how do we know it is dead by rule?

If we are the covering official, we must discipline ourselves to see the ball before we blow our whistles. If you think the runner is on the ground but you can’t see the ball, do NOT blow the whistle! You can’t assume the runner still has the ball.

You can still mark forward progress and square off and raise your hand to indicate the 40-second play clock should start. None of those actions kills the play. The one time out of a thousand when you think the play is over because you think the runner has the ball on the ground, but instead it’s loose or in the possession of another player, you haven’t killed the play.

It’s okay to have multiple plays in each game where the crew does not blow the whistle. It feels a little awkward for a play to end without a subsequent whistle, but it is correct if none of the officials can see the ball.

Here is an exception to the “never” precept: If the runner is upright and surrounded by multiple players, we may blow our whistle if the pile stops moving or starts to surge backward. In this case, we will violate our axiom. We need to stop the play even though we can’t see the ball. In this case, we kill the play to stop player action, especially when the mosh pit moves backward.

The offensive team’s coach will sometimes yell at us to “Blow the whistle!” or say, “You need to protect my players!” I’ll let the coach know I was slow to blow my whistle because I could not see the ball and I want to avoid an inadvertent whistle.

On our crew, we don’t blow the whistle as we approach a fumble pile unless we can see the ball in player possession. As we approach the fumble pile, we don’t whistle in case the ball is not under the pile.

If you are not the covering official, do not blow the whistle simply because the covering official (most often a wing) did not whistle. We don’t need a whistle on every play! Sometimes the wing closest to the runner will not sound the whistle because he cannot see the ball (the runner’s body is between the official and the ball). In this case, it’s okay for the wing on the opposite side of the field to blow his whistle if he can see the ball in player possession. This is rare. I’d rather not have a whistle than have the opposite wing sound his whistle.

Umpires, you should only blow the whistle if you clearly see the runner down and both wings miss it. This is extremely rare; I’ve witnessed this once or twice in 17 years of officiating. Umpires should not blow the whistle to indicate the end of a play. You will often go the entire game without blowing your whistle.


Quiz

Read the quiz stem and then choose the best answer(s).

3/15 from the A-30. B34 is flagged for roughing the passer. A80 catches the pass at the A-40, fumbles at the A-45, and the ball goes out of bounds at midfield. Team A will ______________

  1. decline the foul. 1/10 at midfield
  2. accept the penalty. 1/10 at the A-45 following penalty enforcement from the previous spot
  3. accept the penalty. 1/10 at the B-40 following penalty enforcement from the end of the run
  4. accept the penalty. 1/10 at the B-35 following penalty enforcement from the dead ball spot

Review Rules 2-34-2 and 9-4-4 PENALTY

Click below to reveal the Quiz answer and accompanying explanations.