Backward Passes

[grantsrc]

Originally posted by MJT
On my crew, we do not punch back, we either have a whistle or we do not. If anyone is sure enough that it is forward then they will blow their whistle. If no whistle, we have a fumble. On quick passes it will "usually" be the wings, if the QB drops back it will probably by the R, if the QB is close to the LOS it may be the U as he has stepped up towards the LOS to clear himself of the TE dragging.

The thing is you never know who will have the best angle, so whoever sees it is forward they will blow their whistle.

The problem, IMO, with punching back is if one official punches back while at the same time another official blows his whistle, now we have some really angry coaches. With no punch, a whistle means forward and none means backwards.

We punch back. And at first I dismissed your idea about not punching back. Really, the punch back is for everyone, players, coaches, and fellow officials. If someone sees a pass that might be backwards and doesn't see the PB or hear the whistle, they may think you missed it. But, then you mentioned the PB and the whistle on the same play. I can see your point there. But what I would say is someone isn't officiating their area.

I can see both sides of the discussion and I think your suggestion might solve some heated debates with coaches. But I also like the idea of having everyone know that you have a backwards pass. I guess not blowing the whistle solves that too.