Play The Whistle …

[Nevadaref]

Originally Posted by BillyMac

Just got a call from an old friend who is getting back into officiating after twenty year absence. Rather than take the local rules classes and exam in the fall, he’s taking his classes and test through IAABO University (it’s true, that’s what they call it).

He called me about this question.

Game clock shows two seconds left in the game. Official hands ball to inbounder A-1 for a throwin. A-1 releases the throwin pass. While the throwin pass is in the air, before being touched by anybody, the game horn erroneously sounds. Inbound passed ball continues, without touching a player, out of bounds. Official resets the game clock to two seconds and puts the ball at the disposal of Team A at the original throwin spot. Is the official correct?

My friend said that the official was correct. In a real heat of the game situation, using common sense, and figuring that the players were distracted by the erroneous horn, I probably would have done the same thing as the official in the question and I probably wouldn't have had to make a coach sit on the team bus in a cold parking lot, or in a smelly locker room.

But is that a "rulebook answer"?

IAABO University said that the official was incorrect, with no explanation.

So, here's my “rulebook” explanation. The game horn erroneously sounding did not cause the ball to become dead. So A-1 threw a “live” inbound pass, untouched by any player, out of bounds, a definite throwin violation. The official game knew that the clock should not have started and had definite knowledge to reset the clock back to two seconds. Due to A-1’s throwin violation, Team B gets the ball at its disposal at the spot of the original throwin.

Then get ready to send an irate coach to the cold bus, or to the smelly locker room.

What says the Forum?

The period ending horn makes the ball dead unless a try is in flight.
If the clock started incorrectly and expired with the sounding of the horn, then the ball became dead in this situation.
If the clock still shows two seconds and the horn inadvertently sounds, then the horn must be recognized by an official’s whistle to cause a dead ball.

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by Nevadaref

The period ending horn makes the ball dead unless a try is in flight. If the clock started incorrectly and expired with the sounding of the horn, then the ball became dead in this situation.

Sounds like a good explanation.

I got caught up in the clock starting in error, and the period ending horn sounding in error, and if this still fit the definition of a ball becoming dead.

6-7-6: The ball becomes dead, or remains dead, when: Time expires for a quarter or extra period (see exception a below).

5-6-2: Each quarter or extra period ends when the signal illuminates or sounds indicating time has expired.

So an end of the period horn sounding in error still "automatically" equates to time expiring, and an automatic (with exception) dead ball? No need for an official to make a decision that the ball is dead, it's already "automatically" dead with an end of the period horn sounding, even if it sounded in error, and with time having to later be put back on the clock?

Has the time really expired, even if it expired in error?