S-L-O-W Whistles
 

I'm about to apply the kiss of death. It's been three years since I've been on the field when an IW happened. I once had 2 guys on my crew that were good for one every few weeks, and I eventually replaced them.

From time-to-time, a coach will complain that we are too slow on the whistle, but I'm unconcerned about that. I tell my guys if you don't see a football, don't blow a whistle -- the play ends by rule, not by a whistle. Now, I'm not encouraging a very late whistle or no whistle, but we have to see the ball to kill a play.

Well, last night, I saw something that made me proud of my crew.

Kickoff return after a TD. Returner is turned a$$-over-teakettle by a K player and he rolls over on the body of the defender, puts his hand on the ground, and flips over on his feet, not even losing stride. The U was the official on the scene and he (and the rest of the crew) kept right on officiating as the returner got another 40 yards.

Now, I would love, LOVE to see a replay of this, as I wonder in the back of my head whether a forearm might have touched the ground, if only for a split-second, but the U and the runner both reacted as if there was no tackle and the downfield guys kept right on officiating, too. And as the WH, I was in the middle of the field 15 yards behind the returner at this point.

I've been part of crews where someone not even near the play would've blown it down and I'm glad my crew has gotten pretty darned good at knowing how to use the whistle.

Agreed
 

Rich:

With my new position within the confines of the NFHS I have been able to attend 11 high school football games this year. And I get to see them from the SIDELINES. This unobstructed view has taught me an important mechanic.

From the first game I noticed the very best way to eliminate the fateful IW.

Officials in Oregon are being trained to NOT have the whistle in their mouths during the play. Only at plays end do they place the whistle in their mouth to blow the play dead.

Each of the three IWs that I have seen this year the offending official has run with the play with whistle in mouth.

I think this simple mechanic is a great help in making sure the whistle is blown at the correct time.

Regards,

The most likely candidate on my crew for an IW is my R. He absolutely can not stand the thought of a play without a whistle sounding and often times he's the first.

We had a play in today's game where the runner hit a crowd while running up the middle. The pile was still moving forward and just as the runner was breaking free for a what could have been a good chunk of additional yardage my R blows his whistle.

Nobody really complained and we 'could' have argued that forward progress had been stopped, although I know in my heart that it wasn't. I commented to the R that he was a bit quick with the whistle and he told me some BS story about another back running into the pile and pushing the runner so instead of throwing a flag on the illegal act he decided to blow his whistle.

I'm not sure this story is true and if it is I know I don't agree with that philosophy.

The R with the whistle, and often before the wings!!!!! BAD SITUATION!!!!

The best mechanic that I have learned for preventing the IW is dropping the whistle out of my mouth at the snap (I usually am the R.) The only time I deliberately keep it in is when I am anticipating the QB taking a knee.

As for the R blowing his whistle often, I rarely have reason to blow my whistle on a normal run or pass. The wings should be doing that as they have the forward progress and spot. I have been the U some games this year (subvarsity to let a new WH work) and at the U position I rarely need to blow my whistle either.

I am trying to get the guys in our association to drop the whistle at the snap but it is hard to break old habits. At least on my crew I have some pull (I hope!).

"Puff-tweet-puff-tweet-puff-tweet...."?

I still prefer the whole idea that no whistle is needed. Occasionally, when working the wings, I'll have a play come down my side where the guy is tackled, everybody stops and walks away. No whistle. Some white hats are fine with that. Others have a big problem and come in and blow their whistle really late, and it's really odd and out of place.

Earlier this season a "Big Guy" came down from the state offices and gave a great presentation on the fact that whistles are NOT needed if action is stopping or particular things occur on the field. He made a point that even wings don't need to blow their whistles if it's obvious that a play is over. I find it odd, however, that many white hats just sat there and ignored everything that was said by a guy who has more officiating experience at a higher level than these guys will ever get to experience and insist on there being a whistle every play. The whole idea makes me jumpy in a game and I feel prone to have an IW.

What's the story with these guys who think we need a whistle everywhere every time? I think it's great when the next whistle after the ready-for-play is a ready-for-play on the next down. It shows more than just good officiating, but great observation by the players and excellent coaching.

I am the R 90% of the time and always at the varsity level. I only add my whistle for "weight" after another whistle if it's absolutely needed or if I'm the covering official.

I also keep it in the mouth and let it fall on the snap.

While I'm perfectly happy with a slow whistle, there has to be (in my little opinion) a whistle at some point acknowledging the play is over. From the covering official, of course.

I think if you don't have one, chances are good that some player who wasn't looking in that direction at the time it became dead will get the idea the ball is still in play, and wind up delaying the game at best, hitting a defenseless opponent at worst. With deaf players the hand-up dead ball signal should work.

Robert

I love this mechanic. It makes it clear to everyone that the play is over, even if there is a whistle. Coaches and players recognize it, and it is useful when the crowd is noisy.

Myself and others discussed this and thought it would be great. Then we had our state evaluator notice this during a quarter-final we were doing notice us doing this. We were graded down for using an unapproved mechanic. If this makes it into the mechanics manual I'd welcome it.

When I started doing HS FB in the 70's, the hand up was the mechanic. I don't remember when it went away. You see it at higher levels still.

I think the key to having fewer or no IW's (in addition to keeping the whistle out of your mouth) is to only have one whistle on a play.

We tend to have three, four or five whistles at the end of a play and, not only is it over kill, it shows we have too many eyes on the ball.

The covering official(s) should blow the whistle. The rest of the crew should be cleaning up off the ball.

REPLY: You see it in the NFL because it's the signal for the play clock operator to restart the 40-second clock. You see it in NCAA (at least in some conferences) because the 40-second rule is also coming there soon.

The odd thing is that at that time, Fed (and even HS officials in non-Fed games) was doing it, and NCAA & NFL were not! NFL adopted it when they changed their play clock from the RFP to a fixed time from dead ball.

It's an old, old signal meaning, "ball dead here and now". It was the original signal for a touchdown ("ball dead here, which happens to be beyond the goal line"), and is still used in rugby for that purpose. The other hand points by finger downward to the spot.

Considering that deaf people do play this game, what's the excuse for not allowing officials to give this signal?

Sure, it can also be used for other purposes. With a palm inward, it can mean, "Bring a medic." It can mean, "Help me line up an aerial out-of-bounds spot." But usually the hand would be held in the air longer for those meanings.

Robert