Rule 1, The Forgotten Rule
 

Over the bowls, I've seen a number of occations where the officials fail (or choose not) to enforce NCAA Rule 1. Mostly, Ive see towels of non-regulation size, or on ineliglble players or on too many players simultaneously.

If you get a chance to re-watch the Ohio State vs Michigan game from November, see if you can catch all the towels on Ohio State at any one time.

Now comes tonight.

If you are watching he Sugar Bowl, how many different socks have you seen Notre Dame wearing? Ive seen at least three on the field at the same time.

Failure to wear mandatory equipment from the NCAA rulebook page FR-31:
"Rule 1-1-4-h All squad members must wear visible socks or leg coverings that are identical in color, design and length (Exceptions: Unaltered knee braces, tape or a bandage to protect or prevent an injury, and barefoot kickers)"

"If a player is not wearing mandatory equipment in compliance in all
respects with Rule 1-4-4, the team shall be charged a timeout and the player shall not be permitted to play until he complies."

Some may think this is petty to bring up. but its in the rulebook for a reason. Its not our option to enforce the rules as we choose, but it sure seems to me Rule 1 is a rule that sure seems mostly forgotten by many officials.

I commented in the chat room how many of the receivers and DB's are leaving one chin strap undone, like the NFL players. Nothing done about that either. It will trickle down to the HS guys just like the bicep bands and cause problems for us.

My high school crew is all over this crap like a cheap suit. We get more rolling of the eyes by coaches and players when we make them remove the bicep bands. And, we all know in Philly that McNabb always leaves two chin straps undone. So my reply to QB's is something "Yo, Donovan get the chin strap buckled --- this ain't the NFL." The kids know I'm sort of kidding with the McNabb remark but they know I'm serious and never give me any crap. I usually get a grin and they comply but they get annoyed with us enforcing the bicep band.

Unfortunately, many (including other officials) will criticize crews of worrying about the "wrong things" when all they're really doing is their jobs. We're screwing each other as officials if some let it go and some not, and that's unfortunate. (just like some crews allowing coaches on the field)

I thought Andy Reid told us he'd speak to Donovan about his chin strap. :D

My brother is sort of an idealist which would cause him a lot of problems if he ever tried to officiate but he has an idea which may work here at the higher levels. When you see a chin strap undone you just go up to the player and ask him if he wants it snapped. If he says no then pull out a scissors and cut it off. There doesn't appear to be any requirement for a 4-point chin strap in the NFL so if you aren't going to use a piece of equipment, get rid of it.

First, do you carry a scissors on the field? Second, the NFHS does have a 4 point chin strap requirement, and all 4 snaps need to be snapped.

Other than presenting a bad example for the lower levels to deal with, I don't care about the NFL chin strap or knee pad issue. I think their priorities are odd considering they are very adamant about all players on a team must wear their NFL style team sock. Whoopee doo!

NCAA says you are to secure your helmet with 4 or 6 point straps and if your strap is not secured, it is a violation. It doesn't require you to have a 6 point strap if your helmet happens to have 6 points. A 4 point strap is OK, but all four have to be attached.

It takes all of 0.5 seconds to tell the guy to buckle it up. It's not like rocket science.

Coach Reid did say that didn't he? I wished I knew exactly what Andy was thinking when he was asked that question in the Q&A part of our meeting.

Imagine if that was really said to a player. I'd love to be a fly on the wall if it was Parcells saying that to T.O.

As I recall, after stating that he doesn't pay much attention to McNabb's chin strap Reid sarcastically added, "I'll mention it to him."

OK, You're in the Sugar Bowl, Brady Quinn steps up to snap the ball with one buckle not snapped. Don't forget now there's millions of people watching the game and a lot of them watching him. The ball is snapped and the play is over. You go up and say "Hey Donovan buckle your strap this isn't the NFL." He does not. What now? Stop the game? Give ND a time out? Physically buckle it for him?

Say he does buckle it and then two plays later it's unbuckled again? Same thing, another time out, stop the game, physically buckle it?

College games are different than HS games. You stop a Sugar Bowl game or make a team take a Time out because of a chin strap you will have serious problems.

Unfortunately you are correct. What's unfortuate about it is we have a rule that supports us to charge the timeout but we all know that we'd be up a well known creek without a paddle if we enforced it. If the NCAA wants this to be taken care of then they need to do so in the offseason and then let teams know this will be a point of emphasis and then start enforcing it in game 1. Waiting until the Sugar Bowl is a bit too late to do so.

My problem is I usually don't pay too much attention to a lot of the equipment rules during a game unless someone points it out to me. I'm not looking at chin straps or mouth pieces or knee pads or tucked jerseys. I probably should but I don't. I've got too many other things to worry about and remember.

Maybe as I become a better official I can allow those sorts of things to become more of a priority. I agree this makes it hard for the next crew who tries to enforce it. I usually address it if I see it, I just don't look for it that often.

Bisonlj, looking for equipment fouls is not the highest priority, except where safety is the reason for the rule. Know which rules are for safety and which are for fashion. Watch for the safety rules violations during every dead ball. Other rules you can enforce with verbal commands during timeouts, change of possession and other extended stoppages. If you see it, correct it before the next snap/kick.

Almost all of these problems can be eliminated during pregame warm ups and the coin flip. Rather than standing around joking and telling war stories, look over the players. This is the time to get rid of jewelry, bicep straps, illegal towels, etc. Once that's done, you've done away with 99% of the problems. Most coaches even seem to appreciate it when we tell the kids to get rid of the goofy stuff. You hear, "I've been telling 'em to get rid of that junk", etc.

Doing the game, clean up any remaining problems with verbal warnings and only flag if the player refuses to respond or if saftey related and the play is about to start. After timeouts, on kickoffs, etc. remind them that chin straps and mouthpieces need to be in.

It's pretty easy to do and may help your rating if your being evaluated.

Chin straps need not be secured while the player is in the training room.