Captains!

[wisref2]

One game in and already a good captain story. Blue had the second half option and elected to receive. I asked white which goal he wanted to defend and he said "we want to face the scoreboard in the fourth quarter."

My reply (with a smile), "And you want me to figure out which way you're going in the third quarter?"

We got it figured out. I told them to stand with their backs facing their goal, and the white captain stood facing the goal instead. We all had another good laugh. Then I put my hand on his shoulder to indicate his selection - which was wrong (blue had the choice).

We got it all straightened out and 5 officials and 7 captains walked away laughing.

Ya gotta love Friday night.

[dvasques]

on that subject, how can it be that we have a choice before the game and a choice before the second half and I've never seen a team receiving the kick both times? What am I missing here?
Remembering I only get NFL games here in Brasil

[wisref2]

The way it works is that the winner of the coin toss get the option in the first half. The other team then gets the choice in the second half. Usually, the person with the choice elects to recieve. There is not a coin toss for each half.

[oHIolj]

Dvasques....You have won the coin toss.. You have 3 choices

1.. You may Receive the kick-off

2.. You may KICK-OFF

or 3. You may choose which goal line that you want to defend.
[ on a windy night you may want the wind to be behind your back so you can "throw" and "kick" the ball farther.


Now its the 2nd Half.. SO since you had first choice for the 1st half of the game.... now your opponent gets the same 3 choices to start the 2nd half of the game..

Hope that helps explain American football a little better..

[Ed Maeder]

Originally Posted by oHIolj

Dvasques....You have won the coin toss.. You have 3 choices

1.. You may Receive the kick-off

2.. You may KICK-OFF

or 3. You may choose which goal line that you want to defend.
[ on a windy night you may want the wind to be behind your back so you can "throw" and "kick" the ball farther.


Now its the 2nd Half.. SO since you had first choice for the 1st half of the game.... now your opponent gets the same 3 choices to start the 2nd half of the game..

Hope that helps explain American football a little better..

There is also a fourth choice in the first half which is quite popular. You can choose to defer your choice of the first three choices to the second half.

[oHIolj]

and the not so popular.
..after a touchdown... you may elect to kick rather than to receive

[wisref2]

Originally Posted by Ed Maeder

There is also a fourth choice in the first half which is quite popular. You can choose to defer your choice of the first three choices to the second half.

In this case, we were talking about NFL rules. There is no option to defer in the NFL.

[JugglingReferee]

Last year I had a good one:

Kids football - 11 year olds I think. One captain was rather pudgy and when I asked if there were any questions (it was the beginning of the season) this kid asked, "can I go get a hot dog?" (The home team had a BBQ going for the day.)

[dvasques]

Never seen, in the NFL, a team a team win the toss, elects to kick and then, the oponent, on second half, elects to receive the kick again. And there were some examples of that on last season's gamebooks on NFL website

[With_Two_Flakes]

It's 1986, the very early days of football in the UK - all adult recreational teams. A few weeks before the season starts, I'm white hat on a pre-season game between Chelmsford Cherokee and Grays Saxons. Grays is a small town most folks have never heard of on the River Thames estuary.

Despite it being a pre-season game, Cherokee expect (and get) a reasonable crowd and have programs printed. Sadly the printer makes a mistake and they read - Chelmsford Cherokee versus Gary's Saxons.

As I escort the home team Captains to the coin toss, a Cherokee captain (from a nearby US Air force base) says:
" Hi Ref, I'm Vic, I'm the speaking captain, which one of them is Gary?"

[The Roamin' Umpire]

Originally Posted by dvasques

Never seen, in the NFL, a team a team win the toss, elects to kick and then, the oponent, on second half, elects to receive the kick again. And there were some examples of that on last season's gamebooks on NFL website

This is straight from NFL.com:

1. The toss of coin will take place within three minutes of kickoff in center of field. The toss will be called by the visiting captain before the coin is flipped. The winner may choose one of two privileges and the loser gets the other:
   (a) Receive or kick
   (b) Goal his team will defend
2. Immediately prior to the start of the second half, the captains of both teams must inform the officials of their respective choices. The loser of the original coin toss gets first choice.

[dvasques]

Originally Posted by The Roamin' Umpire

This is straight from NFL.com:

I got it, Roaming, my issue is that I've never seen it happen and seems to me like this could be an unwritten rule... some kind of fair play stuff

[MD Longhorn]

Originally Posted by dvasques

I got it, Roaming, my issue is that I've never seen it happen and seems to me like this could be an unwritten rule... some kind of fair play stuff

No ... you've never seen it because in the NFL, if you win the toss, you elect to receive. period. I think I read somewhere that twice, in the entire history of the coinflip being noted in game reports, has the team chosen something else.

So it's not a "fair play" thing. If some idiot captain (soon to be ex-captain) chose a side or to kick, the other team would CERTAINLY choose to receive the 2nd half.

(Note - in NCAA or lower, you'll find coaches defer, or choose intentionally to take a side instead of the ball, especially in odd weather ... but never in the NFL).

[The Roamin' Umpire]

Originally Posted by mbcrowder

No ... you've never seen it because in the NFL, if you win the toss, you elect to receive. period. I think I read somewhere that twice, in the entire history of the coinflip being noted in game reports, has the team chosen something else.

So it's not a "fair play" thing. If some idiot captain (soon to be ex-captain) chose a side or to kick, the other team would CERTAINLY choose to receive the 2nd half.

(Note - in NCAA or lower, you'll find coaches defer, or choose intentionally to take a side instead of the ball, especially in odd weather ... but never in the NFL).

Which is weird - I have a vague recollection of teams being able to elect to kickoff in the first half and still receive in the second half. Anyone know if the NFL rule has changed in the last... 20 years or so?

[dvasques]

the book says the looser has the option for the second half. Which means a team that elected to kick on first half could end up kicking again. But last season I saw one NFL Gamebook (at nfl.com) of a Redskins game in which the Reds won the Toss and elected to kick. On second half they were receiveing, though. That doesn't make much sens unless there's a fair play agreement between teams. If not, why would you not chose to receive the kick on both halves?