Offensive encroachment??

[Rock Chalk]

2nd time as a WH in my life last night and twice we had WR's lining up a yard off the ball, in the wrong direction, they were on the defensive side of the ball. I signaled encroachment both times because i could think of no other signal besides maybe illegal formation. Did i get this right or did I kick it?

[jTheUmp]

You got it right. A is guilty of encroachment if any part of an A player's body (except for the snapper) is in the neutral zone.

[mbyron]

How did your wing let him line up there? Something's fishy: you should never have encroachment like that.

[Rock Chalk]

Originally Posted by mbyron

How did your wing let him line up there? Something's fishy: you should never have encroachment like that.

He repeatedly told him to get back, and after plays would come up to them and tell them they were too far ahead. They apparently didn't listen to him.

[whitehat]

Encroachment is correct, RC. you got it right! don't you just love it when that happens?!

On the few occassions when I get to be a wing I will offer some help by telling the kid to back up or at least give him a second or so, as long as the snap is not imminent, to back up. Looks like your wing tried this more than once. Despite being a strong advocate of preventive officiating, bottom line is it is not the officials job to line a kid up...

Despite people who are a little to quick with the second guess and judgment trigger on this and other forums, the best possible learning environmnet is to ask questions like this in a safe evironmnet and all of us,regardless of experience level, to keep learning each game!

[Robert Goodman]

Suppose the neutral zone is set, and team A is playing without huddling. A1, returning from B's side of B's line of scrimmage, stops at a point where he's still encroaching. The wing official says, "Here's your line of scrimmage" and points, and A1 stands offside and drools. A's snapper isn't over the ball yet, but is getting there. At what point do you kill the play in Fed?

[mbyron]

Originally Posted by Refsmitty

Once the RFP whistle has blown - it is encroachment

Only half right.

2-8 ENCROACHMENT: "Encroachment occurs when a player is illegally in the neutral zone during the
time interval starting when the ball is marked ready for play and until the ball is
snapped or free kicked."

Notice that it says "illegally in the NZ." When I'm a wing, a player lining up before the snap will not be illegally in the NZ, and so not guilty of encroachment.

[Refsmitty]

[Forksref]

One of my pet peeves: Coaches who don't coach their receivers on this. I shouldn't have to be telling kids if they are legal or not before the play or moving them. I do, for the kids' sake, but it is poor coaching if you don't get your kids lining up right. It's not rocket science. Look at the ball, the interior linemen, my feet...

[Robert Goodman]

Originally Posted by mbyron

Only half right.

2-8 ENCROACHMENT: "Encroachment occurs when a player is illegally in the neutral zone during the
time interval starting when the ball is marked ready for play and until the ball is
snapped or free kicked."

How about players beyond the NZ? Say an entering sub? Do Fed rules allow you to make the ball RFP before players from the previous down have returned to their respective sides?

[mbyron]

Originally Posted by Robert Goodman

How about players beyond the NZ? Say an entering sub? Do Fed rules allow you to make the ball RFP before players from the previous down have returned to their respective sides?

Yes. Entering subs are permitted by rule to cross through the NZ as they enter. The encroachment restrictions do not apply until they are on their side of the NZ (or the ball is snapped).

[Robert Goodman]

Originally Posted by mbyron

Yes. Entering subs are permitted by rule to cross through the NZ as they enter. The encroachment restrictions do not apply until they are on their side of the NZ (or the ball is snapped).

What if they're not subs, but had been players of the previous down?

[LDUB]

Originally Posted by Robert Goodman

What if they're not subs, but had been players of the previous down?

There is no exception for them. Just because the ball is RFP does not mean that encroachment can happen.