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Originally Posted by simpson
...The penalty occurs prior to the snap, during the deadball. The officials just don't realize it's a penalty until the snap and that's when and why they blow it dead. If the center double pumps on the snap and goes ahead and snaps it, you still blow the play dead. Same principle.
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REPLY: Not true IMHO. The
intent to commit the foul may certainly be there before the snap, but we don't flag intent. There is nothing illegal until the instant the ball is snapped. Until the ball is snapped, we have no way of knowing that something wasn't wrong. Only once the ball is snapped is the ruse obvious and then we need to blow it dead at that point. In essence, this is actually a foul simultaneous with the snap.
Suppose on a FG attempt, Team A lines up and the kicker moves toward the sideline saying, "I need my kicking shoe." Are you going to blow it dead then? Of course not. An attendant might very well throw a kicking shoe out to him. Maybe his comment to the sideline was sincere. But if the ball is snapped while he's in the middle of this act, then the ball has become live, and you need to blow it dead at that point.