Umpire Signaling TD

[chiefgil]

Look at the LJ & HL before you do signal. It makes the entire crew look bad if one official signals TD and the LJ is running in pointing to a 'spot' outside the end zone.

[OverAndBack]

See, this is good information. I worked my first game at umpire tonight, and this would have been good to know. The other two guys on the crew weren't very experienced either (one more than the other), so it's not like they would have told me.

But it's good to know. Thanks.

[glyphrunner]

I've worked Umpire for 10 years now, and I've signalled touchdown FOUR times in all that time.

1) Broken PAT with no LJ on the sideline (this is why I slide to the LJ's side on PATs). (twice)

2) QB sneak from the 1, far hash from the HL in very poor lighting. QB went HL's side but was screened from HL and LJ, with me in perfect position to see the QB and ball.

3) Intercepted pass play behind the LOS in 4-man. LJ and HL are down field, R tackled with QB. I keep up with the ball and am the only one in position to signal.


For the most part, though, at Umpire I hardly ever blow my whistle (except for obvious reasons) and almost never signal TD.

[snrmike]

...and in that time, I have signalled a TD only once. That happened during an fumble recovery that was recovered in the endzone. The wings were still looking at the pile and the situation was a close game. I killed it immediately with the signal.

When there is a close play at the goal line, the wings sometimes get screened by wideouts and d-backs. In obvious TD situations where my wings are screened, I take hold of my neck whistle and close my fist around it, holding it directly in front of my face. If the wing thinks he needs help, he checks to see where the whistle around my neck is and then makes the approriate call.

It's generally the only time (except for penalties) that I actually use the whistle on scrimmage plays.

This suggestion comes from one NFL umpire and one AFL-1 umpire. It keeps the crew outta some major trouble if the umpire doesn't go up when he "thinks" he has a TD.

[DJ]

We had a play earlier in the year where on a short yardage play at the goal line a mass of about a dozen people were moving toward the goal line and all of a sudden out comes an opponent who has stolen the ball and he starts running down the field. At about the ten yard line I hear a weak whistle(I am the white hat) and then mirror the whistle to kill the play. Neither wing had a prayer of a chance of seeing the ball with the mass of bodies moving toward the goal line and neither wing knew where the ball was until the kid came running out of there with the ball going the other way towards a possible touchdown. The umpire in this case killed the play because the wing had actually started running down the field to officiate the stolen ball. The umpire was 100% sure that the kid had crossed the goal line in possesion of the ball. I like the idea of the thumbs up but in this case the wing was running down the field with the stolen ball carrier officiating the play so the thumbs up would have been redundant unless he turned completely around and signal the opposite wing. I also told the umpire that it was not a good time for a weak whistle and we had a good chuckle about that after the game!! We sold our call and went on to the extra point. We did the best we could under the conditions and did not recieve any flack except for a few fans who were just being fans! The umpire should never but....!

[PSU213]

Originally posted by DJ
We had a play earlier in the year where on a short yardage play at the goal line a mass of about a dozen people were moving toward the goal line and all of a sudden out comes an opponent who has stolen the ball and he starts running down the field. At about the ten yard line I hear a weak whistle(I am the white hat) and then mirror the whistle to kill the play. Neither wing had a prayer of a chance of seeing the ball with the mass of bodies moving toward the goal line and neither wing knew where the ball was until the kid came running out of there with the ball going the other way towards a possible touchdown. The umpire in this case killed the play because the wing had actually started running down the field to officiate the stolen ball. The umpire was 100% sure that the kid had crossed the goal line in possesion of the ball. I like the idea of the thumbs up but in this case the wing was running down the field with the stolen ball carrier officiating the play so the thumbs up would have been redundant unless he turned completely around and signal the opposite wing. I also told the umpire that it was not a good time for a weak whistle and we had a good chuckle about that after the game!! We sold our call and went on to the extra point. We did the best we could under the conditions and did not recieve any flack except for a few fans who were just being fans! The umpire should never but....!

If there was a short yardage play on the goal line, how would the umpire know the runner crossed the GL with the ball, and yet the wings are unaware of it? Not that I really know of a better way of dealing with a play like this, but IMHO, the U is not a good position to rule on the GL.

I agree with Rut on this one...one of the rare times the Umpire should go up is if there is a fumble, and he digs to find a player in possession of the ball in his opponent's EZ.

[OverAndBack]

How about if you're the umpire in a three-man crew? Where sometimes you could be in the umpire position behind the defense (by the book) and sometimes on the wing opposite the line judge (as some guys do it)?

I umpired for the first time Monday night in an 8th-grade game (3-man) and had to go back into the end zone on a pass to that side in the corner. Kid caught the ball in the end zone right in front of me, I had to signal TD, right?

[Patton]

Originally posted by OverAndBack
I umpired for the first time Monday night in an 8th-grade game (3-man) and had to go back into the end zone on a pass to that side in the corner. Kid caught the ball in the end zone right in front of me, I had to signal TD, right?

When in a 3-man crew the umpire is essentially the U and LJ, so yes, that's your call.

[mcrowder]

In NCAA, a 3-man crew doesn't have an umpire, so I have no reference point for your question.

[DJ]

You stated, "If there was a short yardage play on the goal line, how would the umpire know the runner crossed the GL with the ball, and yet the wings are unaware of it? Not that I really know of a better way of dealing with a play like this, but IMHO, the U is not a good position to rule on the GL."

I agree that the umpire is not in a good position to make the call but in this case he was the only one who could make the call and was lucky because it was a no brainer for him to see the ball had in fact crossed the end zone. So how did know it crossed the line, he said, "I saw it had crossed the line." For me that's all I need to know because no one else could see that under the circumstances and I would not doubt his judgement until someone else could show me different. Never say never but when the going gets tough cream rises to the top and in this case other than the weak whistle my umpire rose to the top and I respect him for that. He was there when our crew needed him the most and that is the kind of official I want on my crew. My philosophy on officiating is I don't care how we get there as long as we get it right.

[GBFBUmp]

Originally posted by OverAndBack
How about if you're the umpire in a three-man crew? Where sometimes you could be in the umpire position behind the defense (by the book) and sometimes on the wing opposite the line judge (as some guys do it)?



I umpired for the first time Monday night in an 8th-grade game (3-man) and had to go back into the end zone on a pass to that side in the corner. Kid caught the ball in the end zone right in front of me, I had to signal TD, right?

In our area (NE Wisconsin), 7th grade and 8th grade games are typically the only 3-man crew (or the occasional Freshman game where the white hat goes to the wrong school ). Those are the only games in which I have signaled TD when Ump. Especially the plays to the opposite side of the linesman. Everything else I leave up to someone else.

[glyphrunner]

Originally posted by GBFBUmp
In our area (NE Wisconsin), 7th grade and 8th grade games are typically the only 3-man crew (or the occasional Freshman game where the white hat goes to the wrong school ).

Wow, wish that were the case here in NE North Dakota, but unfortunately we often are forced to do 7th & 8th grade games solo as we don't have enough officials to field even 2-man crews for sub-high school games.

With this in mind, how do others go about recruiting officials? I have tried in the past to get graduating seniors for the following season, coworkers and even fraternity borthers, but they all bow out because of:

1) Times are inconvenient
2) Equipment is too expensive
3) Pay isn't enough to compensate for time lost at work

[Rich]

Originally posted by GBFBUmp

In our area (NE Wisconsin), 7th grade and 8th grade games are typically the only 3-man crew (or the occasional Freshman game where the white hat goes to the wrong school ). Those are the only games in which I have signaled TD when Ump. Especially the plays to the opposite side of the linesman. Everything else I leave up to someone else.

Believe it or not, we're working a varsity reserve game in the Madison area with 3-officials on Saturday morning. It's all the school will pay for. Normally I'll bring 5 if they'll pay for 4 and we'll split 4 checks, but when they only pay for 3 at $35/per they get 3.

--Rich

[FredFan7]

Believe it or not, we're working a varsity reserve game in the Madison area with 3-officials on Saturday morning. It's all the school will pay for. Normally I'll bring 5 if they'll pay for 4 and we'll split 4 checks, but when they only pay for 3 at $35/per they get 3.

--Rich [/B][/QUOTE]


This is cheating the kids. No way can a three man crew see all that's needed to be seen in a varsity game. Too bad. Are you going three man "by the book" or having a R, HL and LJ?

[Snake~eyes]

Originally posted by FredFan7
This is cheating the kids. No way can a three man crew see all that's needed to be seen in a varsity game. Too bad. Are you going three man "by the book" or having a R, HL and LJ? [/B]

I agree, I don't think I'd be very comfortable doing a 3 man game for a varsity contest.