7 players on the LOS

[Ed Hickland]

I spent many years as an LJ being frustrated with trying to count players on the LOS. Sometimes you miss a player because the guy next to him is bigger and/or taller or players are positioned such that seeing everyone is difficult. First thing I did when I became an R was tell the wings they did not have to count players on the LOS.

Reason is U has to count five players numbered 50-79, so, why not complete the 11 count. The R is in the offensive backfield and can easily count 11. So, we depend on the R & U having the 11 count. The wings indicate whether the last player is on or off. The R counts players in the backfield depending on the wings to indicate whether the last an is on or off.