Quote:
Originally Posted by bigjohn
OK, I can respect that. If no one covers A22, do you call illegal substitution?
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Depends on the circumstances, really. But I've not had any teams run anything deceptive in this regard.
Come to think of it, we had this on a punt play a few years ago, and we flagged it for illegal formation (nobody covered the gunner, who wasn't inside, and the wing flagged it in case it was a designed fake -- the penalty was declined as it was a poor punt).
The rule has good intentions behind it, but the reality is that it takes time to reset after a play and when a team runs without a huddle (especially with no substitutions) there's no real reason to expect the team to meet the letter of this rule. I've not met a crew who does expect it, either.
I'm sure at least 10 officials will now post and say they do expect it, but it just proves that almost all officiating (despite national rules) is local.