[M&M Guy]

Originally Posted by Gimlet25id

Your right it is seldom but not never. There is nothing in rule 6 that says the ball is dead when the coach/player request a T/O legal or otherwise

We agree.

Originally Posted by Gimlet25id

The granting of the T/O by blowing the whistle is what causes the ball to become dead. To grant the T/O you would blow the whistle. Rule 6-7-5.

Actually, the complete wording of 6-7-5 says the "The ball becomes dead, or remains dead when...(Art. 5) an official's whistle is blown." Add that to the Rules Fundamental #16 - "The officials' whistle seldom causes the ball to become dead; it is already dead." This is also backed up by the case play 10.1.6, that actually tells us that we still act upon the "action", and we still make the call, even though the whistle didn't blow in time. All of these things together make it pretty clear to me that it is not the whistle that causes the ball to become dead, it is the "action". In the case play, the "action" is a foul; in our sitch, the "action" is the official granting the TO. The whistle is simply a signal to let everyone know. Can you give me any rule or case play backing that says granting a TO is done only by blowing the whistle?

In the example of the player falling OOB while requesting a TO, if you somehow didn't have the whistle in your mouth, would you not grant the TO simply because you didn't blow the whistle before they landed OOB? I would grant the TO in this case. Even better, would they not be considered OOB when they landed because you didn't blow the whistle? Of course not.