Pass interference illegal arm bar

[Bob M.]

Originally Posted by rodneyw

I understand the replies and the ball being catchable has nothing to do with it. I am not a referee so I am asking for opinions. Do you flag every infraction regardless of the situation, I would think if you did a game could go on forever. I would think some interpetation and judgement would be used by the refs if not then hey, I am wrong.

REPLY: No rodneyw, we do not flag every infraction regardless of situation, but consider this. The arm bar (which is nothing more than sticking the arm out into the receiver's chest or midsection to restrict his movement to the ball) might have occurred early during the pass's flight and created a situation where it now 'looks' like he could never have caught the ball, when in fact he might have been able to either catch the pass or bat the ball away from your safety had the arm bar not occurred. What you saw at the end of the play could most definitely have been affected by what occurred earlier. That's the judgment that the covering official needed to make.