Umpire Signaling 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.