Calling a timeout

[Johnny Ringo]

Can an offensive football player call timeout before be down?

[Sonofanump]

before be down?

before he is down? No

before a down? Yes

[Johnny Ringo]

RB is running a sees clock winding down and he slides and calls TO. legal?

But has to be down?

[Ed Hickland]

Not sure whether the question is before the down or before he is down.

Before the down an offensive player cannot call a timeout at the end of the down; however, players can inform an official they want a timeout at the end of the down and the official will acknowledge it.

My suggestion is if a player requests a timeout at the end of the down ask them to call it as you will be looking for it because a situation could arise that would not necessiate a timeout.

As to the other situation, no player can request a timeout before the down has ended.

[MJT]

As Ed indicated, I would definitely confirm they still want the TO at the end of the down before I would award it. Many problems could arise otherwise.