Quote:
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Originally Posted by Rich Fronheiser
...I've seen two D-I deep guys blow IWs on muffed punts in the last year.
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REPLY: And I'll bet this evening's game check that they were blown on situations where R signalled for a fair catch...right?
OK, here's my soapbox rant and many of you have heard it before. But for the newer guys:
There is absolutely no reason whatsoever to hurry your whistle when a receiver makes a fair catch. Too many officials think it's their sworn duty on such plays to 'protect the receiver' with a quick whistle. It's not!!! R's signal has already done that. Everyone in the stadium knows that the ball will become dead when R catches or recovers it. Let the play reach its logical conclusion and only blow the whistle after it's absolutely clear that R has possessed the ball. And do you think that your quick whistle would prevent a hit on R in this case. Of course it wouldn't. All it does is increase the risk of an IW exponentially. On some occasions, I haven't sounded the whistle until the receiver turns to toss me the ball or set it on the ground.