Quote:
Originally posted by Derock1986
Need input from other officials--legal or illegal: Center is the last player at the end of the line of scrimmage and has been declared an eligible receiver. Center snaps the ball and then goes out for a pass. Is this legal?
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### You have been provided input from several, yet you say in your judgement the center cannot be an eligible receiver because the rules specifically do not address this. They do address this with the words by number and by position on the line. No other words are needed.
Have you ever seen the "swinging gate" formation used on a TRY? It's part of about every teams playbook and guess what? The snapper (notice I did not say center) is wearing an eligible number and is on the end of the line. Guess what again, this is a legal formation and by rule, yes by rule this snapper can be an eligible receiver if he wears a number 1-49, or 80-99 as he is on the end of the line.
You'll not find anything in the rule books regarding swinging gate plays.
You do not need specific rules that say the center can be eiligible. The term center is a coaching term as is guard or tackle terminoligy. They define relative positions on the line.
Never seen an END playing guard? By formation definition, he is right next to the "center" and that is the "guard" position but he is the only person on that side and that makes him the "end" as the same time. Is he eligible to catch a pass? Maybe, if he is wearing the right number on his jersey and the other numbering requirments are meet.
From years back, I know that youth football people can modify rules as they see fit. So if they say the center cannot be eligible they have to be more specific in what they are saying. They have to say the snapper is not eligible no matter what number he is wearing and his postion on the line relative to the other six people on the line.
Otherwise, if they say we play NFHS rules (or ncaa rules) the snapper can be eligible under certain formations.