Before the Ready for Play...
 

Fed Rules:

Could the center place his hand on the ball before the ready for play after a charged timeout? I have seen this called both ways by experienced umpires. Some umpires say that the center cannot touch the ball before the Ready, while others say it is OK, but he can't snap it until the ready.

My umpire would prevent the center from doing this.

Prevent him from touching it? Or prevent him from snapping it? Touching it is not illegal.

Prevent him from touching. If you prevent him from touching, then there's not possibility that he will snap it. :)

REPLY: There's certainly nothing illegal about him touching the ball before the RFP, but as long as there's plenty of time left in the half, I would have him wait for the RFP. But if there's only a few seconds left in the half, and he wants to be ready prior to the RFP, I'm not stopping him--just make it very clear that he cannot snap the ball until the RFP.

Bob M. I agree with you. There is nothing that I could find in the rule/case book ( Fed) that says the offense cannot put their hand on the ball. If they snap immediately after the RFP, the play is OK provided the entire offense was set for one second before the snap. Being set for one second could occur before the RFP. The only potential problem that I could find is the split ends not being inside the 9 yard marks. That must occur after the RFP.

Don't forget the philosophy behind the 9 yard mark rule. It's intended to prevent deception. If this happens and the DB is lined up with the receiver outside the 9 yard marks, you don't have a foul. That doesn't violate the spirit of the rule and is just common sense.