simultaneous foul and choice

[Robert Goodman]

Hypothetic: Team A has the option of an enforcement that would make it 1st and 5 from their 30 or leaving it 2nd and 2 from their 33. As A's captain is telling the ref his choice, a scuffle breaks out between players of A & B in the vicinity of the umpire, who flags and quickly breaks it up. Now A's captain wants to know whether there will be a dead ball foul against B before completing A's choice of the previous enforcement, because if B is to be penalized additional yardage, enforcement of the previous foul would be stupid. (But the flag might be for dual fouls against both teams and no yardage.) So how far can A's captain's statement of choice get before it can be called off and left pending while the other penalty is sorted out? "We'll take the pen...wait, can we see what happens with that?"

Robert

[jaybird]

A's captain must make his choice of the options given him, then the dead ball (offsetting) PF's are signaled. The penalty for the original foul will be enforced first before the DBPF's are addressed.

[TXMike]

While it would be appropriate to signal and assess (or not) the 1st penalty before signalling and assessing the subsequent one(s), it makes no sense to not let Team A know what the follow-on penalty(ies) will be before they make their 1st decision.

[Robert Goodman]

Heh...I'm not going to let this go without arguing with both sides.

Jaybird, there might not be offsetting penalties or I wouldn't be asking about this situation. I'm assuming it will take a little sorting out and might be a PF and/or USC (there might've been taunts or something) against just one team.

I could also alter the situation so that the possibility of a DQ could change A's decision about the previous penalty, if their passer or kicker were liable to be tossed.

Originally Posted by TXMike

While it would be appropriate to signal and assess (or not) the 1st penalty before signalling and assessing the subsequent one(s), it makes no sense to not let Team A know what the follow-on penalty(ies) will be before they make their 1st decision.

No sense? A's captain has already made a choice (mentally) and is just announcing it.

Robert

[MJT]

Robert,
Unless he has already told you his choice, you definitely should tell him the "new" options with the added penalties that have just occured.

I don't see how a DQ would alter their choice? The new QB or punter/kicker will have to be in for the next snap one way or another, so what is one more play?

[Robert Goodman]

Originally Posted by MJT

I don't see how a DQ would alter their choice? The new QB or punter/kicker will have to be in for the next snap one way or another, so what is one more play?

A down-distance or field position choice might change if they knew they no longer had a competent passer or punter/kicker, which might be the case on a small team after a DQ.

Robert