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Ok guys, I have a question for all the football officials here, especially high school guys. As we approach the 2005 season, I can't seem to forget a game I had last year. This game was near the end of the regular season. The 2 teams involved were both undefeated in their conference and this game would certainly decide that conference championship. I was so excited to have this game. It was one of the biggest games I've ever had. I am a Referee and have been for 6 years. I moved to the Referee position after my 1st year as an official. The reason I did this was because we really needed Referees in our association and there weren't very many people stepping up to take the responsibility. I am so glad I made the move. I love football officiating and I love the referee position. Now, with said, I wanna get this off my chest. And please, everyone chime in and tell me your honest opinion. The reason for this post, for me, is to finally get a good sampling of how everyone feels about this situation I'm about to describe. And I will learn from it and move on.
Here's the situation. A is leading the game 14-7 with about 3 minutes left in the contest. A has punted at least 3 or 4 times during the game. Each time they would come up to the line in a very normal punt formation. With double tight-ends, and the front 7 all standing with hands on their knees. On a signal from the upback, the ball is snapped and we have the punt. Now, there's 3 minutes left and A has 4th and 4. They are around midfield. A comes up to the line with their punt team. Again, the front 7 are in a standing position. On the signal, they ALL (except the snapper) shift sharply into a 3-point stance. And they do it with a vocal also. In other words, they all grunt as they snap into their 3-point stance. As you probably have already guessed, B encroaches. We have flags flying from the LJ and the HL. I'm making my way towards the LOS and I'm thinking false start all the way. Both the LJ and HL tell me that they have encroachment on B. Now, I certainly didn't want to take much time here. But I got them both together for about 10 seconds. And I asked them if they were sure. I reminded them that ANY act by A/K that is CLEARLY intended to cause B/R to encroach is considered a false start. To that they replied that they still had encroachment. Now, I realize that what A did here was a shift, plain and simple. They shifted into their final position. My problem is that they haven't done it all night and they pick NOW to pull this. The referee's decision is final in all matters pertaining to the game, we all know that. But I have never done anything like what I was THINKING about doing at that moment. As it turned out, I addressed the pressbox and gave the signal for encroachment against B. 1st down for A and they proceeded to run the clock on down. B did get the ball back later. But it was more of a desperation kinda thing. A won the game 14-7.
I welcome ALL comments on this. I will tell you that I got scolded by the association for this. I did not lose a game because of it. But they told me that I should have ruled there. So, why didn't I rule? I'll be honest. In my association, we rate each other on the games we do. In the back of my mind I knew that if I did what I was thinking, I would be downgraded by those 2 fellas. Thats the wrong reason to make a decision, but I'm just being honest. It bothers me still today. But I tell ya. I know I learned a valuable lesson with it. And now I'm gonna shut up. Sorry for such a long post. I do sincerely hope that some of you will reply. Especially some of the veterans.
Thanks,
Dr.Moore
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