[bisonlj]

Originally Posted by ajmc

Actually, how far he was on the field is immaterial. What MATTERS is whether the official, who the comments were directed at, judged the behavior as worthy of an UNC penalty, or better served the game by taking an alternate response, and how the player responded to the response chosen.

Apparently the player responded PROPERLY to whatever instructions he received - and the game continued without further action, or consequence, being necessary.

Those are decisions made by field officials at every level (PopWarner through NFL) regarding spontaneous, usually overly emotional reactions to game conditions or situations, by non-players, and are far more often handled by some level of corrective instruction, rather than penalty.

This is exactly how I heard it described. Since he wasn't in on the previous play, he wasn't a player who removed his helmet while still on the field. He was asked to leave and he immediately complied.