Larger Crews
 

Awhile back, I came up with a quick and dirty set of mechanics for 4-person crews, primarily for the NBA, as I often see the officials get beat down the court.

If the NFL were to expand beyond 7 people on a crew, what would the next step be? A deep Referee, way back in the offensive backfield? Two deep wings in the offensive backfield? What would the new positions be called?

Superfluous?

Supernumerary?

With a 7 man crew you have an official for each eligible receiver, plus the R on the QB and the U watching the line play.

We could have a second Referee and call him the "Executive Vice President to the White Hat" or maybe "Junior".

:D

I favor a 22-man crew, so we won't miss anything.

You know...if you ask a certain Rugby troll here, 22 is how many officials we all secretly want. Just ask him, the game of football has been ruined and we'll be up to that many soon enough.

Canadian Ruling
 

CANADIAN RULING:

24 officials. :D :eek:

If you want larger crews, then you should name the positions:

Umpire #1, Umpire #2, Umpire #3...

;)

It'd be the smartest crew on the field though. :D

Because they're all Umpires? :)

The first new position to be added would be official working as a "second referee". The NFL tried out moving the umpire to this position but it did not work out for the best. His position will be called the "wing judge" and will wear a "W" or "WJ" on his shirt.

Other positions to be added will be the "north goal line judge" (NG) and the "south goal line judge" (SG). These officials will stand in the middle of the field always staring on the goal line. No longer will anyone have to worry about getting beat to the goal line as an official will already be standing there. When the ball is being snapped near the A's goal line the nearest goal line judge will then move to the back of the endzone to assist the referee and wing judge in judging if anyone stepped out of bounds in the end zone.

If the ball is snapped near B's goal line the nearest goal line judge will move to the end line and help out the BJ.

In all seriousness, the one place I could see an 8 man crew is on kicks, but in virtually all cases it would be places not run very often. Free kicks could obviously use an official behind the kicker on onside situations. On field goals, the side judge could go back to the goal line with the new guy and cover that in case of a fake.

With the wide open passing games, a 9 man crew, with the current FJ and SJ brought closer to the line to take the pressure off the wings, and the two new guys back deeper, might be workable. With 5 guys in the secondary, the wings can stay home and officiate the LOS, leaving the umpire and referee to work the interior linemen actions and QB (R). With twins on each side, the mid-judges could take the slot receivers, the back judge the tight end, and the deep flanks the outside receivers with the wings taking anyone left in the backfield on his side. The other helps the U with holding and helps the R with QB fouls and late hits.

We have hell getting 5 guys dressed in places they put us. I'd hate to have to go in shifts for 9 guys!

I could see adding an official that gets a TV type view. Sometimes it seems that angle from above could be useful. Not blocked out very often. They might be in the booth with the replay official.

Can't be the Booth Judge because BJ is already taken. Maybe, TV Judge? Or Above Judge - AJ? :D

freeloaders :D

AKA, "Snickers", "Big Mac" and "Crispy Creme"


One of the local schools likes to have lots of coaches. I have counted 14 for one game, 6 on the sideline and 8 in the booth. No wonder they whine on every play because with 28 eyes looking at the play they will see what we don't. Of course, they may be a little bit partisan in their view and rules knowledge is not their strength.