[Smiley]

Originally posted by Schultj
Players aren't allowed to leave the field, even during time-outs they have to be in an authorized on-field conference. I would have to say that the penalty would be illegal participation, similar to a player running out of bounds and back in. The case could be made for unsportsmanlike for the equipment violation, but if illegal participation is called, then I would think that the player in question would be classified as a non-player at that time, meaning that the headset would be legal.

It is not illegal participation to leave the field during a timeout. An authorized conference is not required to have 11 players. Just can't have any more than 11.