Shift/Motion Question

[Bob M.]

Originally posted by JamesBond

In reading both the NF and NCAA version, the shift occurs when the players move from one location to another. Its written in plain english. Read those definitions again. When the players are moving they are shifting (from one location to the other). All 11 have to be set before a player can be in legal "motion". Think of "motion" as a mobile form of being "set" and you will never get this wrong. Legal motion is deliberate and conforms to rigid set of circumstances. Any thing else is illegal motion. And if all 11 are not in a static set before legal motion initiates, it is an illegal shift. Easy right?

007

REPLY: James, you really need to consult Moneypenny and "Q" on this one...Read the NF definition again. And you're right...it is in plain English. It clearly says that a shift occurs when a player moves from one set position to another set position. When a player is moving, he's simply "in motion." Yes, it may result in a shift, but not until he stops. If it was a shift while he was still moving, how could a player ever be legally in motion since after a shift all eleven players (including the guy who shifted) must come to a one second stop? Such movement would violate the shift rules as you interpret them. And what the heck is a "mobile form of being set"???? I realize that the NCAA definition is different, having officiated at the college and HS levels. It involves the movement of two players and doesn't explicitly use the word "set" in front of the word "position" like the Fed rule. However, the principle is the same as is the restriction that after a shift (either code) all eleven players must come to a one second pause before the snap.