Faceguarding - What is this?

[MIcoach]

Originally Posted by FootballRef05

Where in the rule book or the manual do you see anything where the official has to throw his flag immediately? There is no reason we have to throw a flag until we are sure of what we have. The term late flag by the "talking heads" on TV every week leads people to believe that an official is unsure of what he is doing rather than taking the time to process what he sees and making the correct call. Of course we want to make calls in a timely fashion, however I don't think is is fair to say he waited to long to call a foul.

not being a football official, i do not know if there is a time in which you are supposed to throw a flag. but to me, the time that was waited before pulling the flag was to long. i understand you have to replay everything in your mind, but how long is to long? to me, if you see a foul, there really is no replaying it in your mind, it is a foul and the flag should be thrown. if you are not sure if there is a foul then, yes think it through, but it shouldnt take as long as it took that official to throw the flag. again, this is just my opinion as a coach/spectator/parent. maybe next year if i sign up to become an official i will have a different opinion of this, but this is my opinion right now.