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Originally Posted by Texas Aggie
I'm assuming you mean you haven't worked football before, only basketball, and you've been assigned a pee wee game. Is that right?
If so, its going to be hard to get you up to speed in one post, but here goes:
1. Keep the whistle out of your mouth, at least for now. You might be tempted to blow when you see a foul, just like in hoops. Whistles don't really kill the play, just use it when you need to stop action, like when forward progress is stopped.
2. There are a couple of ways of working 3 man, but I think the most used way is a referee, a head linesman, and a line judge. The HL handles the chains. You will probably work either LJ or HL. You are responsible for forward progress, and remember, its the spot of the ball where the player is down. And remember, down means any part of the body other than a hand or foot.
3. If you work a wing position, you will need to line up the receivers. What I do is to put my foot at the waist of the center and tell them, "this is your line." You might need to scoot someone up or move him back, or he might not know whether he is supposed to be "on" or "off" the line. Just keep in mind there is a requirement of 7 offensive players on the line, so assuming 11 players on offense are out there, count the 4 in the backfield, and you are good. More than that, you have a problem. Fewer than that, you are ok on all running plays. For passing plays on passes that are thrown beyond the neutral zone (incidentally, the width of the ball), only those on the end of the line are eligible receivers. All backfield folks are eligible. Keep in mind eligible receivers and ineligibles downfield.
There's probably a hundred other things, but if you get the formations right, get the players lined up right, and if you know football at all, you should be able to get through the games. Just remember that when you throw a flag for a foul, your responsibilities on that play don't end unless the play is over. Flag the foul, then continue to officiate the play.
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