no captain on field/penalty declined automatically?

[Rich]

Originally Posted by ajmc

One reason might be that it's simply polite. There may be a lot of young men, even at the pee-wee levels, who have worked hard to be selected as Captains and are deservedly proud of that recognition. What harm is there in paying them the respect the rule book says they are entitled to?

Again, I've got no problem in paying that respect in such a manner that the coach knows exactly what is being discussed and has opportunity, subtle at best, to influence and guide the Captain's decision. That can be an effective effort to eliminate unnecessary and cumbersome mistakes.

If we arbitrarily decide to ignore giving them the instructed opportunity to exercise the leadership and judgment they have been selected to provide, how are they going to learn how to do so?

What do we gain, a couple of seconds per penalty? Sometimes, regarding tradition, it's really better to just go with the flow than nit pick why.

The tradition/practice is to consult captains when there's an actual decision to be made. In the play in the OP, there is no real decision. Enforce the penalty and move on.

Good officials know when to save a few seconds and also know when to take a few extra seconds.