Shot gun center

[Welpe]

Originally Posted by Murd

what would you consider "an opportunity to protect himself " ?
'

That is what you get paid the big bucks to judge.

[Murd]

Originally Posted by Welpe

That is what you get paid the big bucks to judge.

not me, I'm a coach. This is the best forum to come to when I need a straight answer...

[Mike L]

Originally Posted by Murd

not me, I'm a coach. This is the best forum to come to when I need a straight answer...

The purpose of the rule is to prevent injury to a player in a defenseless position. So, generally that means the snapper is going to get a reasonable amount of time to get his head up and protect himself. But he can't stay there forever or even move around in the expectation of buying the call.
And, like parepat said, the gaps between center and guard are open to the defense. For roughing, the contact has to be directly into the snapper. And that is probably where we as officials get most of the complaints about our non-call because most people think the snapper is protected from any contact which is not the rule.

[Mike L]

Originally Posted by Murd

not me, I'm a coach. This is the best forum to come to when I need a straight answer...

The purpose of the rule is to prevent injury to a player in a defenseless position. So, generally that means the snapper is going to get a reasonable amount of time to get his head up and protect himself. But he can't stay there forever or even move around in the expectation of buying the call.
And, like parepat said, the gaps between center and guard are open to the defense. For roughing, the contact has to be directly into the snapper. And that is probably where we as officials get most of the complaints about our non-call because most people think the snapper is protected from any contact which is not the rule.