Originally Posted by HossHumard (Post 547615)

As much as I admit I am not well versed with American rules, IMHO this is well outside the "spirit of the game" and I would use my discretion as an official to ensure this match was decided by play and strategy, not a coach who feigns concern for an opposing player's safety by waiting until an opportune moment to mention it to an official.

Originally Posted by mbyron (Post 547093)

I agree with 2 key points stated so far:
1. This is a crap tactic by the coach who's asking for the penalty.
2. If the opposing team wants to avoid being "victimized" by such tactics, all they have to do is follow the rules.

That said, I can't see a way to avoid assessing the penalty here. The closest thing would be to say that I didn't see the player participate without the pad on the previous play.

But if I knew he did participate -- if he's the QB, for instance -- it's just not plausible to say that somehow he lost the pad after the play.

So in the end I'd probably do what the R did in this game: assess the penalty and let the chips fall where they may. I agree with Luke's philosophy of enforcing the rules, at least up to the standards set by my state and my association.

Originally Posted by Ed Hickland (Post 547704)

There is a baseball play that comes to mind, I believe it was George Brett who was using a bat with more pine tar than allowed and Billy Martin was the Yankees manager. Martin saw Brett use the bat several times until one day he hit a crucial home run. Martin asked for the bat to be inspected taking away the home run from Brett.

Originally Posted by refbuz (Post 547744)

You know that the Royals protested and had that call overturned, right? The Home Run counted and they won the game.

Originally Posted by HossHumard (Post 547615)

I'm with Sloth too. This is a BS move by a coach and I would simply send the kid off without penalty.

As much as I admit I am not well versed with American rules, IMHO this is well outside the "spirit of the game" and I would use my discretion as an official to ensure this match was decided by play and strategy, not a coach who feigns concern for an opposing player's safety by waiting until an opportune moment to mention it to an official.

This reminds me a bit of the ice hockey rule concerning the curvature of a player's stick. There is a limit as to how curved a stick can be (thanks Bobby Hull!) so it was not uncommon for coaches to note an opposing player's stick that was likely exceeding the legal limit and then "call the penalty" when they needed a manpower advantage. What happened then of course was stick challenges all over the place, delaying numerous games, until the NHL decided to penalize incorrect challenges to this rule with a two minute penalty to the team that complained to the officials.

I know what I would say in any hearing that I might be called too afterwards too. "So, coach, you saw a potentially dangerous safety issue for a player on the field and you did not immediately report it? What if the players tailbone had been damaged permanently? Were you prepared to live with that knowing you could have prevented it?"

Originally Posted by OverAndBack (Post 547613)

Waking up every three hours, crying and looking for a breast to suck on? ;)