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The participation penalty assumes that the officials are competent and able to count players on the field in under a minute. It takes less than a second to determine any offense (with 5 interior lineman) has 11. That leaves a lot of time for the defense. Under no circumstances should this situation occur. Participation can only be called if the 12th defensive player runs on within 3 seconds of the snap to after the snap. Otherwise it’s on the official to call a substitution penalty. I’m sorry if you feel guilty about this but it’s just the way it is. Take the ignorant blinders off.
*9.6 COMMENT, Page 71: b: If a substitute enters the field during the down, but does not make any contact with an opponent or touch the ball and does not influence the play it is illegal participation and a live-ball foul enforced from the basic spot. (9-6-4a) NOTE: Based on the rules change, officials are strongly encouraged to make certain that the substitute’s entry into the field had some impact on the play and was not incidental to viewing the game or simply being in the bench area.
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