When officially is the ball ready for play?
 

NFHS RUles

Had this in a JV game last week. Our crew is still discussing it and I'd like your opinion, please.

4.5 seconds left in the half. Offense just picked up a first down in bounds. Clock is stopped to move the chains. Offense does a great job of not waiting for us they get set in a correct offensive formation. Our umpire moves out of the way as the chains get set. WH starts to blow the whistle to wind the clock and put the ball ready for play. During the time while the whistle is blowing A snaps the ball and spikes it to stop the clock.

So the question is when is the ball ready for play? The instant the whistle starts blowing? That is when the clock is supposed to start running. In the situation above the WH blew long enough to crank his arm around twice quickly. What does that take maybe one second? If the offense may snap the instant the ball is marked RFP then how may there be a ball in play while a whistle is still sounding?

We met in the middle of the field and discussed it for a brief time then decided to assess a delay of game for snapping before the ball was marked ready for play. We backed them up 5 yds and started the clock on the next snap. How do you think we did?

Thanks for your input.

Canadian Ruling
 

CANADIAN RULING:

When the Referee has blown in the Ready For Play whistle.

If the clock starts running when the whistle is sounded, then of course A can snap as the whistle is sounding. It's not right to force them to wait for the whistle to stop sounding, since different R's will blow their whistle for varying lengths of time.

I think you were wrong.

I think while you were looking for a nit to pick, you blew the ruling.

Mr. Precedent here, who may be overthinking again:

If the whistle doesn't make the ball dead, but only signals that the ball has already become dead by rule (most of the time), does it stand to reason that the RFP whistle signals that the ball has become "ready for play" and doesn't, in fact, make it ready for play?

The other way to look at it is this: does the referee have to complete his whistle before the ball is, in fact, "ready" for play? I hear WHs tell A, "on my whistle" in similar situations. If they snap it as soon as they hear the whistle, I can see where that might be disconcerting to the crew (and maybe the defense, who should have been clued in by the fact the offense was ready to go), but I'm not sure it's illegal.

I can honestly say that I've never ever thought about which point during the RFP signal the ball actually becomes "ready for play." Most of the time, it's not an issue. But here it was, apparently.

So there is 1 second left in the half, the clock will start on the RFP. Going by your logic there is no way A could snap the ball legally.

So the clock will start on the RFP. A snaps the ball before the RFP so you call the foul. Now why would you not start the clock on the RFP?

I don't know if my brain is hurting because I'm in Mensa or in spite of that fact.

Without saying whether you were right or wrong, consider with 4.5 seconds the offense wants to use every one-hundredth of a second. Maybe, just maybe, rather than using a snap count, it could be they go on the whistle itself.

The RFP is a signal that the ball is ready. My personal preference is to blow a long ready whistle if I think my crew needs that extra tick to be in position which makes it harder for the QB to call out signals. In this situation the offense is ready and the sound of the whistle indicates they can snap.

Hey, we get esoteric here. It's a long season. :)

If you have to think about it, it wasn't a foul.

LDUB,

I accidentally left my rulebooks in the crew cheif's van Friday night so I can't cite the rule reference, but I know there is a special exception for delay of game penalties that the clock is never started on the RFP after a delay of game. It is always started on the next snap.

I appreciate your replies. I was not sure we should have penalized. It was difficult to allow a ball to be live while a whistle was blowing and that was what we ultimately went with. We also decided later a little stronger preventative officiating would have prevented the whole thing (i.e. "wait for my whistle").

Same problem as your OP.

Wait for your whistle to what? Start sounding? Finish sounding? Sound for at least 1 second?

Yeah, well exactly. Then we are back to the original question. When is the ball officially ready for play?

Stop over thinking things. The whistle sounds the ready for play. You're really looking for trouble if you're going to start defining the length of the whistle's sound. Some refs give a quick toot. Others give a long blast. It doesn't matter. As soon as you hear the whistle it's okay to snap the ball.

Using the argument that the whistle didn't stop blowing will lead coaches to instruct their players to play until the whistle stops!

How many angels fit on the head of a pin? :rolleyes:

Straight pin or bowling pin?

I've been through this play where the team was set awaiting us with one second left. There is nothing by rule that stipulates the team must be set after the whistle....only that they all be set prior to the snap. In our play, they got off the play with one second, through a fade to the end zone--saw a flag for dpi....where they got another play...and a score for a tie game. No controversey there, eh? But, yes, the play was a legal play.:eek:

I'll tell the center anytime that I am over the ball to not snap it until they hear a whistle. We are clean as long as he doesn't snap it BEFORE he blows the RFP. I don't care how long the R wants to stand there and blow it in. I DO care if they snap it before he does.

I don't see any reason to think that this play was illegal, but that doesn't mean that 1 coach isn't gonna like the ruling.

A friend of mine (seriously not me) had a similar situation where there were 2 or 3 seconds left in the game after a 15-20 yd completion resulted in a 1st down. They hustle up to the LOS, get set while the officials are setting up the sticks and snap the ball at the whistle. and spike it to kill the clock.

Wiat for the Whistle
 

Had this happen during a game a few weeks ago.

Team B has taken a time out. A is lined up and ready to go as we're clearing B's coaches from the field. Our U is over the ball instructing A's QB to wait for the whistle. I give the U a nod so he can back out and as he does the QB starts calling signals.

A80, lined up as a slot receiver, starts in motion just as I blow the RFP. A80 hears the whistle and looks to me as he almost comes to a complete stop. The ball is snapped and the QB turns to hand off to A80 but the timing is thrown off because of A80's hesitation. The handoff is muffed and B recovers the ball.

A's coach is upset, claiming that the whistle caused his player to stop and the result was a fumble. I understand his complaint and don't want this to escalate so I move a little closer so I can explain without shouting across the field. I simply told the coach that our U was standing over the ball instructing the QB to wait for the whistle and the QB took it upon himself to start calling his signals before the whistle had blown. The coach appreciated the explanation and thanked me. As I was moving back to the other side of the field I could hear him explaining the problem to his QB as only a head coach who's team just lost the ball could do.

Looks to me like the offense got what they wanted in the clock stoppage, just lost 5 yards in the process.

I think that the ball is ready for play at the fist chirp of the whistle, I mean if it was a full whistle blow, you could blow it for 10 seconds and make everyone wait?

Tore his QB a new one huh???

You should have started on the RFP as that is when it would have started if the offense had not fouled. At the end of the half you can't let a team foul to manipulate the clock. Same thing as A committing a false start with 1 second left on the play clock. They fouled and shouldn't gain an advantage from it so start the clock on the snap.