There appears no doubt that an inadvertent whistle was blown at the end of OT in the Phi-GB game on Sunday. It apparently was blown by someone BEFORE THE SNAP under the goal post (probably the FJ) when a GB player tried to call a second consecutive timeout.
Here is my question. Because the whistle came before the snap, it was an inadvertent during a dead ball period. The play had not yet begun. The NFL has a rule to specifically deal with inadvertent whistles during a play, but I can't seem to find one dealing with such situations during dead ball periods. I can't find such a rule in the NFHS rules either.
My best guess is that the general rule that an inadvertent whistle results in a dead ball applies during the dead ball period. Thus, it would be treated like a dead ball fould. The R would blow his whistle and reset the play clock.
Is that right??
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