Timing at end of game

[ljudge]

Ed, if A purposely unbuckles his chin strap the rules definitely cover that which is delay of game. It's failure to wear requirement as the ball is about to become live. This is in the rule book. Signal 7 - 21 - 23 (I'm going from memory here and I believe that's the proper orders and numbers - it's definitely 3 signals)

All 1.1.6 does is cover a situation that's not specifically covered in the rules. So, in this case A would have normally had to snap the ball but because of a legitimate equipment problem you would be letting A win the game by using normal timing rules, which we all agree (I think) wouldn't be very fair. Yes, I'm kind of speaking with a forked-tongue here because that's exactly what you would do in the middle of the quarter. (ie: use normal timing rules).

I think you need to pick the best of the worst options which is either 2 or 3 (and I would probably lean toward 3 the more I think about it). Player safety must come first and by putting the clock back the way it was is probably the best of a bad bunch of options.