12th man

[JugglingReferee]

Originally Posted by BoBo

A has the ball 1st and 10 on A's 20

B has 12 men on the field. Ball is snapped and A gains 30 yards on the play.

Flag thrown for Illegal Participation.

Penalty Enforcement options???

Sidenote. How does your crew handle this?

1.Do you try and kill it before the play starts? illegal sub.

2.Allow the defense to try and get off the field?
if player is leaving field? illegal sub.
player is leaving but caught up in the play? illegal part.

CANADIAN RULING:

We allow 12 players, per team, on the field. So, I will respond in the Canadian manner as if 13 were on the field.

This penalty is applied at the line of scrimmage, and is 10 yards. Since A gained 30 yards, they will decline the foul. The R should not even give A the option.

We handle it thusly:

1. Having too many players on the field is not a foul until the ball is snapped. We don't kill it before the snap. Each team is affored the opporunity for that extra player to run off the field before the snap.
2. If the player is caught up in the play, of affects the other team's alignment, then a flag is thrown. Even if this B player is not quite yet off the field, but no A player was tricked by this B player, then there is no foul. It is entirely a judgment call.