[JRutledge]

Every situation is different and I cannot really say for sure unless I am in the situation. But we do have a provision in the rules that states that we do not stop the play if a defensive player is injured until his/her team bascially gets the ball back or I believe until a fast break is stopped. It is just in my opinion that a untied shoe is not necessarily a safety issue. I would depends on the shoe and laces to be honest. Some laces might not be long at all, that could play a big part. You can do what you want and you have the right to your opinion, but I really think in the bigger scheme of things, there are bigger fish to fry. But again this is usually rare situation. Laces outside of the pants can be a safety issue, but I am not going to stop live ball play just because they are hanging either. You wait until the next dead ball, then handle it. I find nothing wrong with that, but that is me. I feel sometimes as officials we try to find things to make decisions on, every thing is not so tragic or if not handled is going to cause catasophic consequences. If you are worried about being sued, you are in the wrong business. You can get sued for things that you actually call, that is why NF have insurance and NASO offers insurance too.