Washington State Interpretation Mtg.

[JRutledge]

JR,

It is judgment when it comes to whether or not the official sees or feels the foot was on the line during contact. It is not just simple to say, "His foot was on the line so we have a block." Officials are trained to watch the contact, not where all the feet are standing in many of those cases. Now fortunately this is not an issue most of the time. But just like 3 seconds or a hand check, we are going to make a determination as to whether the foot was on the line and how obvious was it. I can see officials not making a big deal if a foot is barely on the line as compared to the foot completely out of bounds. And in the rules the foot hanging over the line should be handled as if they are not touching the line. That is going to be tough for anyone to make this call very easily. I do not that at the college level they told the officials that yes it is a rule, but we know that is going to be tough to see.

I agree that this is a rule, but it is a tough rule to enforce based on previous training. This is a case where the rule makers create something without considering all the ramifications of enforcement. These are obviously not "officials" that are making these decisions.

Peace