Why the umpire should NOT signal TD

[FredFan7]

Saw the play. First time in about 10 years I've seen a U signal a TD on a goalline play. At least on TV.

I'm against the U signalling a TD. I've Ued on the US level and I've given a head nod to the wings. You can also tug your whistle lanyard, give a thumbs up or some other discrete signal.

[Bob M.]

REPLY: Whenever the U is in a position that he wants to signal a TD, it's almost always because neither of the wings has signalled. If the wings see a knee down, they should be coming in hard to sell the spot and the U has no right to overrule. If not, the wings are coming in toward the dead ball spot and probably doing nothing because they can't "see leather" and therefore can't determine whether the ball is still in player possession, or if it is, whether or not it crossed the plane of the goal line.

What our U does in such a situation is this: If he hears/sees nothing immediately from either wing but sees the ball in player possession in the endzone, he places his fist on his chest. This tells the wings only that the ball is in player possession in the endzone. It's then up to the wings to decide if there is any reaason (e.g. knee down) that they might rule something other than a TD. 99.9% of the time, this is going to result in the wings ringing up the TD as they are coming in. All of this this is going to occur in a matter of one or two seconds so there is no inordinate delay in ruling on the play. It's worked for us in all levels of FB.