[mcrowder]

Originally Posted by sloth

I agree...if you think the player is down, you have to blow the whistle. Whats the saying, the whistle rarely kills the play? In this instance the official believed the play to be over, but held the whistle which give the opportunity for a PF. How can the official make the ball down after a delay indicating that the play was over, yet not throw a flag if you havce a viscious hit ont eh runner (who is still going)?

This is very similar to the forward progress arguement...you have a player that is hit by two or three players and driven back. As soon as his progress is stopped and he starts to be driven back you give him that furthest spot as progress, yet hold the whistle incase he make some spectacular move to get out of the tackle. It would see that by indicating the frorward progress the play sho ld be dead and the whistle blown, yet we don't usually do that.

If you listen carefully and pay attention, you'll find that there are NCAA crews that DO NOT blow the whistle on many plays. If the play is over, what's the need for the whistle (most of the time)? Perhaps this crew worked this way.